Running from Aging

I wonder if we're so busy chasing our own youth & denying that we're aging that it's just too hard to accept the aging of our parents until it's absolutely right there in our faces?

After all, we live in a society that worships youth - we're all supposed to look, act & live young until...until what? Until we can't keep that image together anymore?

Like it or not we are getting older & there's nothing we can do to stop our birthday from rolling around every year. We can of course look after ourselves so we're the best person possible.

While many of us baby boomers are out there chasing our youth, we often start to face the challenges of aging parents - whether we want to or not. We can choose to pretend our parent's decline is not happening until the last minute if we want to,ignoring their slow slide.

Then sometimes we find we're drawn into being a caregiver suddenly, without planning, without noticing the signs that were there. And we can find ourselves putting out fires, running to help on an ad hoc basis. And we end up doing too much. We begin to burn out.

If we plan ahead a little, we and our parents have a much better chance of going through our parent's declining years with joy and dignity, & of having a close & loving relationship with our parents. And we do not burn out in the process.

Ellen Besso www.ellenbesso Author of "Where Their Needs End & Ours Begin for the MidLife Caregiver"