Tenacity — Blog — Courage to Caregivers

SEPTEMBER 2024 Newsletter: Strength Lies in Tenacity

"The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity...You can act to change and control your life; and the procedure, the process is its own reward." ~ Amelia Earhart

When was the last time you didn't give up? What motivated you to persist? TENACITY is defined by Cambridge Dictionary as "the determination to continue what you are doing." However, as we all know, finding and growing this determination is hardly ever simple. Everyday, we feel overwhelmed by our seemingly endless tasks and responsibilities. However, we have the tools within ourselves to keep going.

3 TOOLS TO DEVELOP TENACITY

Growth Mindset - By remembering that we are all capable of learning and changing, we can overcome setbacks and determine what is within our reach.
Adaptability and Flexibility - When facing uncertainty, being able to adapt and pivot is essential to supporting our loved ones and giving them the care they need in the moment.
Positive Mindset - We ALL make mistakes and it's how we learn from them and grow that allows us to overcome doubt and build resilience.

Embracing our inner tenacity can be challenging, but by being PERSISTENT, developing REALISTIC OPTIMISM, and finding our COPING MECHANISMS, we can prepare ourselves for the hurdles we face and discover our determination to keep moving forward. Remember, you got this!

Check out our entire September newsletter focused on Tenacity here.

TenacityKristi HornerSeptember 26, 2024Coping mechanisms, Coping, Optimism, Realistic Optimism, Persistence

Practice Tolerance, and De-Stress from Distress

“When you choose to view your stress response as helpful, you create the biology of courage.” ~ Kelly McGonigal, The Upside of Stress

Our topic this week is coping mechanisms, and I want to talk about one particular skill – distress tolerance – which helps us manage and cope with crises or situations that trigger intense emotions.

If you’ve been following us for a while, you know I’m a huge fan of Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), and distress tolerance is one of the four key skills of DBT: mindfulness, interpersonal effectiveness, emotion regulation, and distress tolerance. Each of these skills plays a critical role in managing difficult emotions and navigating life challenges.

TenacityKristi HornerSeptember 19, 2024Coping mechanisms, Coping

Realistic Optimism Means Staying in Balance

“Life inflicts the same setbacks and tragedies on the optimist as on the pessimist, but the optimist weathers them better.”

– from Learned Optimism by Martin E.P. Seligman

At Courage to Caregivers, empowerment is one of the three areas we focus on for caregivers, along with education and support. This week’s topic of realistic optimism is all about empowerment. It empowers us to learn from our failures, view risks as opportunities for growth, and find gratitude even in unmet expectations.

Now, the pessimist in you might say, “That’s a lot to expect from realistic optimism. Nothing can do all that.” But the realistic optimist might say, “I’m not sure it can do all that, but I’ll read on to learn more.”

TenacityKristi HornerSeptember 12, 2024Realistic Optimism, Optimism

Persistence – A Common Trait in Caregivers

“Success is not the absence of failure; it’s the persistence through failure.” – Aisha Tyler

For caregivers, it’s common to feel overwhelmed at times and to be tempted to give up. But do you know what’s also common? Our persistence. Among all the traits associated with caregivers, persistence might be the most frequently mentioned.

Why? Maybe it’s because a caregiver’s tasks and responsibilities can feel never-ending, yet we still endure. And any progress for our loved one may be difficult to recognize, yet we continue to hope. And we may encounter many barriers between us and our goals, yet we maintain our commitment to do the hard work necessary to overcome them.

TenacityKristi HornerSeptember 5, 2024Persistence

SEPTEMBER 2023 Newsletter: Tools to Cultivate Tenacity

Tenacity is your ability to stick with it when things get hard. Caregivers are no strangers to HARD things. The challenges come at us daily. Sometimes they knock us down - and sometimes we're ready.

Having tenacity doesn't mean that we'll never FALL. AND, it's not about how long we're DOWN when we do. Tenacity is all about the getting UP. Getting up requires STRENGTH of all kinds - physical, mental and emotional. When we fall down - and we all know we will fall again - we need to start by pausing. Notice. Take the time and space you need to rest and recover. You'll need your strength to both get up and be ready for the next time. It can be cold and lonely when we fall - yet, Courage to Caregivers is here to support you as you STRENGTHEN your tenacity muscles.

When our kids were little (they're not so little any more at 28-30-32), I took part in a book group at school where we read "The Blessing of a Skinned Knee: Using Timeless Teachings to Raise Self-Reliant Children" by Wendy Mogel. As we dug into TENACITY this month (a concept I also learned when my kids were in elementary school) - the teaching from "Blessing of a Skinned Knee" on coping with frustration was likely the most relevant. "Treating children's daily distresses as an expected and unalarming part of life is an effective way to discourage them from turning small difficulties into big dramas. We can help children become calmer and more resilient by staying calm ourselves." ~ Wendy Mogel, "The Blessing of a Skinned Knee."

It takes a great deal of tenacity to navigate life's challenges AND as caregivers, supporting our loved ones in cultivating their tenacity, too. 💙

Check out entire September newsletter focused on Tenacity here.

TenacityKristi HornerSeptember 28, 2023Realistic Optimism, Tenacity, Coping mechanisms, Persistence

We Can’t Eliminate Stress, So Let’s Make the Most of It!

“When you choose to view your stress response as helpful, you create the biology of courage.”

~ Kelly McGonigal, The Upside of Stress

Most of us want to reduce or eliminate stress from our lives. But at Courage to Caregivers, we discovered early on that no matter how much we would like to, we can’t take away the stress of caregiving. But we CAN empower caregivers with coping mechanisms to better manage that stress.

Coping mechanisms are strategies that we consciously use to help manage uncomfortable or painful feelings. They help us remain emotionally stable when facing a crisis.

Tenacity, AttitudeKristi HornerSeptember 21, 2023Coping mechanisms, Coping

Half of the Glass Is Empty, and Half of It Is Full

"The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails."

~ William A. Ward

Do you think of yourself as an optimist or a pessimist, or something in between? This week’s topic is all about that space in between – a concept called realistic optimism – which we believe is a more positive and productive space to be in, rather than pure optimism or pure pessimism.

While optimism is an attitude that focuses solely on hope and confidence that everything will turn out for the best, and pessimism focuses on just the things that could go wrong, a realistic optimist is someone who recognizes the negative aspects of life but who also does not become consumed by that negativity. An attitude of realistic optimism allows for a growth mindset, and problems become challenges to overcome, not roadblocks.

TenacityKristi HornerSeptember 14, 2023Realistic Optimism, Optimism