Lessons I have learnt

I have had many things over the past few months that I have wanted to write about but I have never sat myself down to write. (Or when I did the wifi was too poor it wouldn't even load...) My inspiration to write at these various points in time came from a variety of different experiences that come through growing up.

My first idea was to write a summary of my time at Cliff College and looking back now there was so much in that time it deserves a blog post all to itself, rather than a short paragraph in the midst of many.

My second experience relates to the interim period between graduating and getting/starting my new job. It was a time of learning to trust, seeking God's plan and in some cases turning down safety net options in the hope that God's plan and call on my life would provide. Which naturally He did.

My third experience of which I wanted to write down my many thoughts was at the time of moving over to Lincoln. A step of great faith which was difficult to adjust to at first due to the knowledge that this move away from home would end with me getting married just over a year later and therefore there would be no going back home to my own bedroom and the times I would be back would only be brief holidays, not like the sort I had when I was at Cliff. One thing that I have been so thankful for in my move over here is the presence of my soon to be (although it already feels like they are) family. They have provided me with a support that I am not sure they even realise. Without them the chances of me spending every evening sat on my own feeling incredibly lonely would have been very high.

My final reason for wanting to write, and the main one which I shall go in to today, is to put down a few of my thoughts that I have had since starting this job and what I have learnt already in the short space of time that I have been working.

It is no secret that a large proportion of my work is with the elderly. Doing house visits, hospital visits and Coffee Mornings. In this time I have come across a variety of people all with different abilities and at various stages of life. Nonetheless through these different encounters there have been common themes that have come up in conversation, particularly with the more elderly and housebound.

One thing which may seem odd as it is inevitable and natural is the fact that we all grow old. If we have the blessing of long life, one day, we will be the elderly people who others come to visit and look after. Although it is something I have always known, it is only through meeting with people who have had the experience of life and are now heading towards their final years that I have become to think about the fact that it will happen to me and nobody can escape growing older. One thing that is important from this though is the ability to remain young in spirit, but not to ungracefully resist growing older.

Another observation, hopefully I wont make it sound so morbid, is that we all have the ability to become ill. It is so common to hear stories of other people's illnesses and woes and think 'that couldn't happen to me' or 'that's only something that happens to other people.' But the amount of people who have various issues, even things like the loss of mobility as you get older, has made me see that our human bodies are only physical and although we should do our utmost to look after them, there is only so much you can do and at times illnesses or failing body parts will get the better of us.

The final thing at the moment that I want to write about is how much I have learnt about the importance of family. One of the saddest parts of visiting people is hearing stories about how they wished their family weren't so far away. Although they don't want their independence taking away from them, the majority of elderly people whom I visit either talk about how lovely it is to have family so nearby, to see grandchildren and great grandchildren, or how sad it is that they rarely get to see their family growing up as they live on the other side of the country. Family is so important and while life and work and other factors can get in the way it is paramount that we put family above these things.
(So a little message to mum here- you may joke about coming to live with us when you are older and although we may moan you can be encouraged that I have learnt enough to see the importance of that now! :P )

It is strange to think that although I have been in this job for just over a month and a half, what I have learnt in that time has challenged me and changed my perspective on our attitudes towards the elderly. The old person who we may see on their own every Sunday but never spoken to has a great story to tell and although they are at a different stage of life, that by no means devalues the positive and negative experiences they may be having at the moment. From this I can see that there is so much more still to learn and I am so excited by these opportunities. x