Survival Mode is existing for your basic needs while room for living is not even a consideration. Every person’s story is uniquely their own. To learn what has brought a person to need help with organization and letting go, allows you, us, to connect on a deeper level. Below is Donna’s story. You may find that it sounds like your own story, even if some of the details are different. If you are, like Donna was, experiencing a life of constant upheaval. I hope Donna’s story inspires you.
Survival Mode
“It was March 2013 and I just been through eight years of constant upheaval. The birth of an extreme preemie with many health issues who never made it home from the hospital, the birth of triplets just over a year later, my oldest daughter developing a rare condition which left completely blind for several months, with a gradual regaining of partial site. During this my father became gravely ill and passed away and my mother-in-law developed aggressive breast cancer this required many frequent visits to northern Virginia. Less than a year after my father passed away, my later my mother’s health took a turn for the worse and entered hospice care, passing away by the end of the year. During my mother’s illness, my mother in laws cancer returned and she passed away less than a month after my mother passed away. During my mother in law’s illness, my father in law’s Alzheimer’s worsened and had to enter the nursing home since my mother in law could no longer care for him.
My house took the brunt of everything. We were in survival mode, laundry was done, meals were on the table, the kitchen was functional, basic cleaning was done, but everything else piled up. Outgrown clothes and baby items were in boxes to be sorted later. Stacks of papers were put into boxes to be gone through later. Items were brought into the house from the parents’ homes after they passed away to make a decision on it later.
Reaching out for help
I decided to reach out to Nettie and hire her company. I was paralyzed with all the “stuff” around me and didn’t know where to start. I had been making decisions for everyone else for so long, I didn’t think I could make one more decision about anything, but I was still apprehensive about having anyone in to see my secret mess. I was going to cancel my initial appointment, but forgot because my daughter was having a small relapse of her condition. I nearly hyperventilated when I saw Jane and Linda at the door. I hadn’t had time to clean up at all and didn’t want to let them in the house.
I opened the door and let them into my house and was mortified, but they put me at ease right away. We say down at the kitchen table and talked about what had been going on in my life and how I had gotten to this point. They made me realize where I was, was ok. I had been through hell and back and had survived but now it was time to take care of me. I think that was the biggest thing which came out of that first meeting: I was ok and it was going to be ok.
Since working with the organizers, I am no longer in survival mode. I have gotten systems into place to make sure others can make decisions about paperwork so we don’t have 35 boxes of paper to go through. These systems also make sure others know what need to be done on daily, weekly and monthly basis everything gets done in a timely manner. The long lasting effects of working with Sappari Solutions is the overall sense of peace which remains in the house, even when life get out of control again, because it is life. 🙂 I have the tools to get quickly back on track.”
If you are overwhelmed and looking to find a place for you in your life, schedule a call with one of our caring advisors.
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