I recently had done a creative blog post belief for carers. The post is simply called “Belief for carers” and I do admit it may not make sense to some people reading the blog, heck! it does not even rhyme. However where I feel that blog post main effort is to be just a message from the heart of a carer reaching out to others.

Perhaps one could say the message of that blog post is as pure as it can get because it has come from someone caring for a long time.

Actually it would be a good idea to perhaps read that creative blog post again, because some of the text can be rather cryptic, but this just adds to more involving reading. You can always comment on the blog postor take away whatever you feel from it.

Anyway let us be a lot less cryptic this time, why is the word “belief” needed for carers? How can belief affect the role of a carer and who they care for as well as dealing with others on their journey as carers.

As I started out on my journey as a carer all those years ago, I can certainly say that I lacked a lot of belief.  In fact you could say that I did not have much time to think, let alone any time to believe in what I was doing.

Only through a series of battles and development of thick skin that I decided to try and believe in myself, because no one else was going to do it for me. This is not to say that I am a strong person, I am most certainly not, but I do value the use of belief in the world of caring.

Carers throughout their role or journey will fail on many things, this is unfortunate but I want to be realistic, the role of a carer is just not as rosy as some make it out to be. So when things do not go according to plan, carers begin to not put so much faith in too many plans, there will come a time when carers will just have to take a step forward and believe in themselves, believe that everything will be OK, believe the next day will be easier and believe support will come.

In this world we have to make plans, nothing is certain for tomorrow, but plans can soften the blow of the unpredictable, the unfortunate, the unrealistic.

This could be the unpredictability of finances or the health of whoever we care for, especially if the person we care for suffers from mental health problems. I can certainly say very few things can be unpredictable as mental health. If plans fail, or support fails then carers need to believe things can turn out for the better. This is not to say that carers should not trust in plans, but the path of a carer does often stray away from planning.

With belief carers can have some hope and this can affect a carers health and mind. Carers may know deep down that with all the energy and effort will not be enough, but with belief it can give us carers some calmness in the situation.

There has been times that I have been let down, and after a while I know I have failed the battle, this makes me wonder how many carers out there have been let down, how many carers out there have to pick up the pieces. This is where I stop to think and reflect, I may not see how many carers out there suffer, but I know for sure that at that moment I was suffering, but did not want to give up. My trust was weaken, but now my energy has to be put into belief in myself and in the system that is meant to help us carers.

Belief for carers is not the only thing that can help families or carers in such a difficult and unpredictable world, there are many more skills and attributes that can be useful for carers and I hope to blog about those when the time comes.

Carers can put belief into many things, but the first place to put belief is in themselves, in their plans which may or may not fail. Carers can put belief in their loved ones and have hope that the next minute, the next hour, the next day will be better.

Carers can put belief in others and hope that our trust will stay intact because it is so difficult to always care by yourself. Carers need a system that supports us, so we as carers can support whoever we care for, be it our friends, family or even neighbours.

Some people may actually have belief in us carers, but this is not so easy to see. How can you show belief to other people? So the best effort is to believe in yourself, this is something you can feel for certain.

Just stop for a moment when things seem to feel at their worst. Believe tomorrow will be better and that you can make a difference. Believe you are needed when you feel pushed away, you have tried your best and you believe this to be true even when you feel others around you seem not to understand.

Believe in yourself, because above all……..you deserve it.