Inspiration for a Bad Day

 I originally found this video while browsing though Huffpost on my phone. It seemed so appropriate for the day after Bell's "Let's Talk" promotion and I wish I had known about it years before when I was going through tough times. The words are by Canadian spoken word poet Shane Koyczan from his poem "Instructions for a Bad Day". I believe that the words are appropriate for anyone who is going through tough times due to loss, bullying, mental illness, illness or just a plain bad day. I hope this inspires you as it did me. Enjoy.

Humor

From: THEMETAPICTURE.COM

Humour

How I feel on Sundays

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Quote

Original photo by: Simon Howden/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Staying Inspired

Image: meow - Imgur

How I Used Pinterest as a Caregiver

Pinterest is one of those sites that I find to be addictive to me. I can spend hours and hours looking at the site and pinning and repinning stuff.  Pinterest is a free site to join and it is basically a place where you can put links to stuff that you're interested in instead of creating tonnes of bookmarks, printing out stuff or clipping out magazine articles. It's kind of like a electronic corkboard for your ideas. 

Picture: posterize/freedigitalphotos.net

There are pages/categories (boards) there for caregiving (for caregiving and other specific things you have to enter it into the search bar) women's fashion, food and drink, fitness, home decor, quotes and much much more. I've been keeping all of my pins on one board but you can set up different categories for whatever interests you  for example, "my style" or "dinner ideas" or however you want to title your boards. 

As a caregiver I was using (and still use) Pinterest to find slow cooker, snack and freezer recipes, fangirl stuff (I love Doctor Who!), inspirational quotes, organizational tips, homemade cleaning and beauty products and ideas on fashion as I couldn't get out to buy new clothes. I was doing this because I was running out of ideas on what to cook for my husband and I and I was also beginning to suffer from caregiver burnout (although I didn't know it).

I was getting so fatigued that I started on Pinterest by looking to make mealtimes easier for me. I liked the fact that in the food and drink category you can find foods that are vegetarian, gluten free, paleo diet, "skinny" foods, slow cooker recipes, snack ideas, freezer meals and more. I'm all for making my life easier, especially when I'm tired and don't want to think about cooking, which is why I like all the slow cooker recipes and  freezer meal ideas such as the recipe I tweaked for slow cooker "roast" chicken. In fact, I still look in this category for meal ideas when I have no idea what to eat.

I continued to browse and found ideas on how to organize the fridge so that my husband could easily find something to eat when I wasn't there or I was asleep. I also found ideas that helped me tidy and decorate so that the husband was comfortable and our home looked nice (well, most of the time). The Women's fashion category helped me figure out what I had in my closet and how to organize it so I could find nice outfits to wear. Looking at the quotes kept me inspired so I could keep on going.

All in all I've found Pinterest to be a great inspirational site and very useful but I must say very addictive to me.

How do you use Pinterest as a caregiver?

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Have a Great Weekend!

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Image: Pinterest

Quick Tip

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Use lavender essential oil to remove adhesive residue on skin from bandages, I.V. lines or cardiac monitor stickers. Just put a few drops (you should need no more than 5 drops) of the essential oil on a cotton ball or pad and gently wipe over the residue and the residue should come off easily. Wash the area gently afterwards with a mild soap and a soft washcloth to remove any remaining adhesive. 

The advantage of using lavender is that it promotes healing of the skin and closed wounds, is antibacterial and promotes relaxation.

 Obviously you should not use lavender essential oil if you are allergic to it or on open wounds. 

Quick Tip

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When making tuna, salmon or chicken salad for sandwiches, make it in a smallish food container  ( like Tupperware). That way if you don't use all the salad it is easier to put in the fridge for later and doesn't dirty an extra dish.

Quick Tip: New Year's Resolutions

The New Year has begun and you've made your resolutions but how do you keep them? The easiest way is to remember that any habit takes 28 days to become ingrained. It is also important to break down any goal into smaller steps. 

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If, for example, your New Year's resolution is to get into a sexy bathing suit by the summer, you could start with improving your diet first for the first month, then work on exercise for the second month and relaxation for the third month. You can also further break down each

month into goals such as working on menu planning or increasing fiber in your diet for the first month, start exercising 10 minutes a day and increasing that time by 5 minutes each week for the second month and start meditating for 5 minutes a day, increasing that time by 5 minutes a week for the third month and so on. However you want to achieve your goal and break it up is up to you but just begin with one small change for 28 days.

No matter your resolution, just take it one day at a time and you will reach your goals!