Are You Building A Wall? Can you care too much? I just heard from a caregiver that they were told “caring” too much about the people they help might not be a good idea. The people in the home are aggressive and challenging. Wow! I have not heard that one before. How sad to think we continue to look at the diagnosis and behavior of a person with disabilities first before we really see the heart of who they are as human beings. Regardless of where you work and who you work with – treat a person with respect, dignity and care first. Think of the person…Who are they? What activities do they enjoy? Do they smile, cry, laugh? What makes them happy? What are their hopes and dreams? Who do they care about? How do they contribute to their community? I could go on. Now, think about this – none of the above exists. The person is only seen as an individual with a challenging issue. You have just placed a brick in the wall. This becomes a wall that separates them from the world; a wall that you are helping to make. Don’t forget – we are people first. Show care and compassion – if you are challenged it is because the person has the wall and has not had the opportunity to experience care and compassion in their life. They have only been seen as a burden, a problem, someone to fix. Let us not lose our heart when we care for others or we will lose our soul in what is right and good in this world. So, care as much as you can because caring will allow you to show your love in action and in turn will make a difference in the person’s life. The person needs to be heard, to find a trusted person, to be themselves (problems and all). Our hope is that they learn to find the confidence to go beyond the wall and live a full and meaningful life. Just know that it takes a second to build the wall and years to chip it away. Keep chipping away…behind the wall you will find the most inspiring, beautiful people you have ever met.
A Challenge in Thinking
