Today is the day the word I picked for #JusJoJan was assigned to, so I’m pretty much obliged to write a post. My original choice for a word was “Home”, but I made up my mind as I wrote my comment on Linda’s post and chose “Ideal”. My plan was to then write about my ideal care situation.
I am not sure I can do it though. An ideal situation, after all, doesn’t exist and chasing it may mean I lose sight of the things I could appreciate in what I already have. That’s possibly what happened with the move to my current care home, much as I struggle to admit it.
Of course, I knew there were going to be drawbacks to this care home, but I minimized them in my mind. When, back in like late 2021, I read up the information on this care home on my agency’s website, it sounded ideal. In fact, I remember at one point telling my staff and some people on an E-mail support group I belong to that it was my dream care home. But that’s judging from a promotional webpage, not reality.
Then when I actually got the opportunity to go here, what I found out on my visits here indeed revealed some more negatives. However, for the most part, these were vague “gut feeling” negatives, not facts. A factual negative was the fact that staff here don’t tell us clients who will be on shift the next day, reasoning that they might fall ill. “But we all come back,” the support coordinator reassured me, “and if we don’t, we’ll tell you.” Well, the one time a staff left so far, I didn’t find out in advance.
Maybe, looking back, there were clearer signs than just my gut feeling that the dream care home was going to turn into a nightmare. I am not sure. Maybe I didn’t ask the right questions. Maybe the staff – purposefully or not – avoided answering the real questions, focusing instead on details. Either way, I can’t help it now. What I can do is never believe something is going to be ideal again. Ideal isn’t real, after all.
That’s one lesson life teaches us; that nothing meets our ideals. But learning to make do with what we have is also a good life skill.
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I agree, although to be honest I’m not sure I can really make things work here.
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Perhaps with time you can resolve this issue
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Indeed, nothing is ever perfect. And sometimes finding the good in amongst the bad seems impossible. But as you say, it’s important to appreciate the things we do have. The trick is remembering to appreciate them. It’s something we all need to strive for daily.
I wish you all the very best, Astrid. And thank you again for the prompt. ❤
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Thanks for your kind words. Yes, indeed it’s important to appreciate our everyday blessings.
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You can spend your life chasing the ideal. When I get what I think is the ideal I always push for more which makes the ideal impossible to reach.
I am sorry that your dream care home has turned into a nightmare. x
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Thanks for your supportive comment. Yes, I understand about chasing the ideal.
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I’m sorry you haven’t landed in your ideal care home yet. But maybe this is preparing you for the day when you do get there. Never lose hope and faith. I’m not entirely aware of your whole situation, but I do know that things have a way of falling into place at the right time.
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Thanks for saying that. That does feel comforting.
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