So many women at midlife are involved in some kind of caregiving. It could be for an aging parent or two, a spouse or significant other with an illness, or helping to get a friend through an illness.

B. Lynn Goodwin is a woman who knows what it’s like and she’s become an expert in self care for caregivers. The stress without relief can be deadly. She’s written a book titled, “You Want Me To Do What? Journaling for Caregivers” that I thought some of you might benefit from.

The rest of this post is from Lynn, some advice for all of us. According to Lynn, Making Time to Write Saves Lives.

 ”Are you a caregiver for a spouse, parent, child, special needs child, or yourself? If so, you are probably a multi-tasker and a nurturer who spends hours driving to appointments, stopping at the pharmacy, cooking, answering questions, paying bills, and controlling the resentment that can rise up when you have no time for yourself.

 Why write about it?

 Writing gives perspective and restores sanity. Writing is a lifeline as well as a record. Writing saves lives. Do not underestimate its power.

 How do caregivers make time to write?

 Some people write as soon as they get up in the morning. Some write while they are waiting for the coffee to brew. Some write during a lunch break. Others write before they go to sleep at night.

 Some disappear into the bathroom with a notebook tucked into their pocket and emerge fifteen minutes later feeling less stressed. Some people jot down a few ideas while they are waiting in line at the grocery store or pharmacy. Others write while they wait for their children to get out of school or while their loved one naps. Making time to write even a few words will help clarify your thoughts and feelings. More always comes up once you start the pen moving across the page.

 Journaling allows you to vent, delve into issues, and untangle messes. It lets you analyze or celebrate. It allows you to finish a thought without interruption. Journaling releases mental toxins and deepens awareness. It enables you to strip away the daily stress and let the strong, sane, safe, healthy, hopeful parts of you emerge.

 What do you do if you have nothing to say? Try using sentence starts. All you need to do is finish the sentence and keep going. Go wherever the writing takes you. Explore fearlessly. Don’t worry if it’s not related to the topic, because topics are only suggestions.

 Ready to give it a try? How would you finish a sentence that started “Today I feel…”?

 Let the writing take you wherever it wants to. Feel free to make leaps. Trust yourself and trust the process. Write as much or as little as you want.

 Here are some additional sentence starts for you to try:

Ø    Today I believe…

Ø    Today I want…

Ø    Today I am…

 Start where you are. Start with the mood you are in. Start with what you see and hear. Start with what needs to spill out.

 Writing is therapeutic. It saves lives. Carve out a niche of time and just do it. Your truths are eager to come out. I’d love to hear about the doors that journaling opens for you.”

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B. Lynn Goodwin is the owner of Writer Advice, www.writeradvice.com and the author of You Want Me to Do What? Journaling for Caregivers, which contains encouragement, instructions, and over 200 sentence starts to help you journal any time.