Episode 113: Shocking Truth Why the Dalai Lama Can't Hold your Attention

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Transcript

Here’s a caregiving confession for you… the other day I swiped past the Dalai Lama! 

I gasped as soon as I did it.

I had just watched a 2 minute video of a woman dancing with her dog dressed up in a tutu. The whole 2 minutes! But the next video was the Dalai Lama talking about something very profound and possibly something that could have changed my outlook on life that day, and I swiped!!! I gave him maybe 7 seconds. He just didn’t get to the point quick enough. I guess his social media manager hasn’t taught him about the importance of a hook in the first few second of his content. 

I didn’t even save it for later! I actually didn’t know he made short videos and put them on social media. I just swiped up to watch another video of someone throwing a shoe up in the air and then magically had a new outfit on when the shoe hit their foot. 

That I watched!!! The Dalai Lama I ignored.

I gasped when I swiped past him and after fully realizing what happened I put my phone down and walked away. 

When I don’t have the attention span for  2 minutes of what could be an important message I take that as a sign that I need to slow down. I need to do something that will actually take more than 3 minutes of my focus and it needs to be something I can’t just swipe past. 

The thing that amazes me is it’s easy for me to get sucked into hanging out of social media apps. I’ll admit that I can be on some for hours just scrolling through videos and posts. Some days it’s because I need a distraction from what is really going on in my life. Others it’s because it feels really entertaining to be on there and I’m finding a lot of things that make me laugh. 

However, this is not really self care. I get on these apps knowing full well there is a specific reason they are showing me the videos I see and that there is now science that backs why it works and how watching a video can cause my brain to react in different ways depending on what I’m watching and that will dictate if I stay on longer or not. 

But this episode isn’t about the science of social media. It’s about the things we choose to spend our time on. 

You will never hear me say that I never have time to fit my own moments into my day. Do you? There are just days when I don’t make it a priority. That can be for many different reasons but it will always come down to be because I didn’t follow my own rules and didn’t stick the boundaries and routines I have in place for myself. Now some times that can be because the day became spontaneously fun or unexpectedly difficult. However, not caring for myself at any time is always my choice. 

When you spend an hour on social media and post about how you don’t have time for yourself I get it. You want to be seen. You want to know that other people support your struggle and feel the same way. We all need to feel like we’re part of a community. 

And here’s what can be an un popular opinion… in the time it takes to write that post you could have spent in practicing deep breathing and actually would have felt better in the end. 

I’m not judging social media. I use it for my business and I get on it for personal use. However, I know what I’m choosing to do and what I’m choosing not to do. There are moments when it becomes very clear that I have not been balanced in my choices. 

That’s why scrolling past the Dalai Lama was alarming. 

Our attention spans are becoming shorter and we are choosing things that feel like they are a break but actually aren’t really giving us what we need. 

We all crave connection. 

We all want to know we aren’t alone in are experiences as caregivers.

We’re looking for ways to change our outlook on life. 

And
We want to be entertained.

That’s what caregiving confessions is! 

This monthly guide is your roadmap towards loving the life you live as a caregiver. It’s a way to be entertained in a way only caregivers can understand. It’s an opportunity to connect with other caregivers and share your experiences as well as ask your questions. 

It’s a way to spend some time reading and watching something that is not only fun but meaningful for you. 

Each issue of caregiving confessions will also grant you an invitation to have a deep dive into the self-care topic of the month during a live virtual Zoom session with me. No more reading about what you should be doing without being able to discuss it or ask questions. 

You’ll find easy and approachable ways to find time for yourself throughout the day to energize you, reduce your stress and rule your caregiving role with self-care. 

There will be PDF checklists, quizzes and worksheets so you can integrate and apply what you’re learning. 

There will also be fun music playlists, book, movie and website recommendations for when you want to take your mind off things, be entertained and inspired.

I wanted to create something that I would have loved to have when I became a caregiver almost a decade ago. Something that could help me realize how important caring for myself would be if I wanted to be a caregiver for a long period of time. Something that was actually relevant enough to make me laugh, or cry. That would give me something to watch or listen to that felt like they got what my actual needs were. 

Something that would give me easy ways to start feeling happy again so I could enjoy life with my husband as I cared for him. 

If you’re tired of feeling like crap, not getting enough sleep and being in a bad mood all the time you are not alone and there is no reason why you need to continue feeling this way!

We all have moments when we hate caregiving, want to run away and feel alone and invisible. 

Even if you have family and friends that support you it still feels like there’s something that is missing and things you could be doing to enjoy life more but just don’t know what they are.

That’s what this monthly guide will help you with. 

Knowing you aren’t alone, especially with the experiences, thoughts and emotions you feel you need to hide from others. 

Gaining access to live support with me along with other caregivers so you aren’t left with questions and not knowing how to make things work for you.

Finding ways to be entertained for more than 1 minute at a time. 

Figuring out what your needs are as a caregiver and how to make them a priority in your life. 

I made this for you. 

Take a closer look at loveyourcaregivinglife.com/confessions.