Are You More Like a Vitamin--or an Aspirin?

As you care for others, would loved ones say youʼre more like an aspirin or a vitamin?

You help your parents, friends and colleagues achieve one of two outcomes: move away from what they donʼt want, or move towards what they do want. Youʼre like an aspirin or a vitamin.

Aspirin and vitamins both have a place in caregiving. A person in the midst of a rip-roaring migraine will do whatever it takes to make the pain stop. They need aspirin. Once the headache is gone, the power of hopes and dreams kicks in.
Keep both aspirin and vitamins in your caregiving tool bag. Any change represents both a loss and an opportunity.

As your parents enter a new chapter of their lives, they say goodbye to another. Itʼs normal to feel sad. Thatʼs when you offer the emotional aspirin. Be sure to follow up with the emotional vitamins. Focus on the good things ahead. Help
them celebrate their legacy.

The difference between aspirin and vitamins is like the difference between playing not to lose and playing to win. The team playing to win usually prevails. Stock both aspirin and vitamins in your caregiver tool kit. Then reach for the right prescription at the right time.