Rayna’s
Blog
Patience a Calm Acceptance
Caregiving for my dad was a special season in my life. It was filled with challenges, heartaches, laughter, joy and faith growing season in my life. Since you are still in your caring season you might not use these words to discribe your life right now, but I am...
Self-Care: Becoming Your Own Best Friend
Need someone to work extra days? Ask me. Someone who’ll clean up the place because we’ve scheduled an open house? Sure. I’ll even bring the cleaning supplies. Need someone to baby-sit your kids while you go away for a weekend? I’ll do it. Stay late? Cook extra? Loan...
Are You a Good Listener?
Do you give the gift of listening? Need some tips on becoming a better listener. Real listening can be learned. Research and books such as The Lost Art of Listening: How Learning to Listen Can Improve Relationships, by Michael Nichols, and Mortimer Adler’s How to...
How Well Do You Practice Empathy?
“To love a person is to see all of their magic, and to remind them of it when they have forgotten.” – Anonymous Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another person. In certain circumstances, it is difficult to see things from another...
Bust Through Overwhelm
“My caregiver mantra is to remember: the only control you have is over the changes you choose to make.” – Nancy L. Kriseman Caring for a parent is not an easy road to travel, but it’s certainly worth every step. It’s one of the best decisions I’ve ever made in my life...
Embracing Conflict
At Beth and Jim’s house, the dining room had become a war zone. Exhausted after a long day of work, all they wanted was to find some comfort from each other. Instead, an argument about household chores had escalated into a full-blown yelling match. Conflict shows up...
Conflict Can Be a Creative Force
Conflict is as natural to the human experience as thunderstorms are to springtime. When left unchecked, conflict can generate heat and discomfort, disrupt interactions and destory relationships. Between a couple, discord can lead to divorce. Between countries,...
How Well Do You Handle Conflict?
It’s a fact of life in our world today: Conflict, like taxes, is inevitable. This isn’t all bad. Naturally people are going to have differing points of view. Sometimes conflict and the resolution that comes from it, can result in a closer bond between two people or...
Tending the Fences: Setting Healthy Boundaries
“Good fences make good neighbors.” So goes the old proverb from the well-loved Robert Frost poem. Likewise, good personal boundaries make for good relationships. Boundaries are those invisible lines of protection you draw around yourself. They let people know your...
Overwhelm
Some of my best memories are from the time I spent caring for my parents. I truly am blessed to have had the opportunity to share in their journey in such an intimate way. Looking back now, I spend time revisiting those fond memories often. But I can also recall the...
Grief Doesn’t Take a Holiday
Grief is an odd process. Just when you think you have a handle on things BAM! It comes back to hit you full force – often from out of nowhere. Miniscule things, like smells and memories, can trigger fresh waves of grief, leaving you reeling and wondering if things...
How Well Do You Manage Your Energy?
When the seemingly relentless demands at work and burdens of a busy life take their toll on work performance, we tend to think that managing our time better will improve the situation. If we can just work faster, multitask more efficiently, things will be better, we...
