Issue link: https://www.massageandbodyworkdigital.com/i/943527
ARE YOU MEANT TO DO THIS KIND OF WORK? If working in this kind of specialized practice is something you are thinking about, I suggest you start by asking yourself the following questions: • How do I feel about my own aging and about the aging of my loved ones? • How do I feel about the physical aspects of growing older and becoming more frail and dependent on others? • How do I feel about becoming fond of someone and then losing them? Am I able to separate the two? Am I able to see the greater value in helping to facilitate healing and peace for someone during the final stage in their life over my own feelings of sadness and loss? Or is the emotional loss more overpowering? • Am I able to work with clients in sometimes less- than-pleasant situations, where I may not have the kind of silence I ideally would like to have? • How do I feel about illness, loss, and death? THE GRACE OF THE WORK Sadness will always come with loss, but what is more important to me is knowing I may have helped lighten and brighten someone's life, or that I brought more peace, comfort, care, love, and healing to those last days, months, or years of someone's life. Knowing this is infinitely greater than the sadness that will come later. Sadness, like all things in this life, will pass. What stays is the imprint etched in your heart. It is not always easy, and not everyone is able to do it, but the rewards can be immense. Whatever challenges there may be, I feel truly blessed to touch and be touched by the elders I have worked with, whose bodies may be frail but whose hearts, spirits, and minds have strengthened and nourished me in a profound way. This career has been life-changing. If this is something you might want to investigate, I encourage you to go out there and explore. c a r e 1 0 1 2