Hi All, Gassho.I was struggling with this little dilemma. Does anybody ever have trouble in a stressful situation, to find the balance between compassion and rational behavior? My mother is going through a difficult time having recently been diagnosed with Alzheimer's (this did not come as a surprise to those of us who know her) and we're all under a lot of stress. Out of my two siblings and I, I seem to be the strong one the health care people always call to talk to. I have to remain strong and lucid through these conversations to make sure I understand what they are telling me and so that I can ask the right questions in return. I'm pretty much the person who has been delegated to make those tough decisions nobody likes to make. However in doing so I feel like I'm lacking somewhat in compassion and I feel this carries over to the times when I have to deal with my mother directly. In order to move forward and follow through on those tough decisions, I feel like I've had to put a sizable chunk of the compassionate part of me on the shelf. Not that I don't know that the decisions I make are going to be very hard on Mom and all of us in fact because I know that all too well, but that I can't let the necessity of having to make those tough decisions break me to the point where I can no longer function. I worried that I'm so practical about my approach that I might be stepping over my mother's feelings.
I'm just airing it out here mostly but I was curious if anyone else has ever had a situation where they feel like this?
Metta
Ann
