Take It Easy - The Eagles Said It All in 1972

By Suzanne Holman • May 19th, 2009

So many emotions come flooding in when your parent is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease…

A lot of the intensity comes from our wanting it to be different…
make it go away….
make it right for our parent….

In a recent talk at Unity of Phoenix, Richard Maraj shared thoughts about the Eagles song from 1972 and how it relates to stress. As he spoke, I found myself relating everything to the experiences one has when a parent is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.

He reminded us of the research of Hans Selye, the Canadian endocrinologist who developed the stress scale. It is both the events and our attitude about the events that cause our stress.

60 - 90% of all illness is caused by stress.

Taking it easy isn’t all that simple.
And acceptance is key to living with Alzheimer’s disease in the family with any degree of sanity.

…as the song goes….

“Take it easy……Don’t let the sound of your own wheels drive you crazy….

“Lighten up while you still can….don’t even try to understand…”

How many times have you had the same thought in your mind and it goes round and round and round? This “monkey mind” just creates more of the chaos that you are already experiencing.

As we allow ourselves to renew…to move to a place of peace, we can begin to see new ways of looking at a situation….

With Alzheimer’s Disease, there is a need to let go of the parent we have always known and be open to loving this different person..not an easy process.

Holding on to and trying to make this person still be the parent we once knew is what can make this oh so painful.

“Be still and know that I am God”…. Breathing in and breathing out…
God is peace. I am peace.
God is love. I am love.
God is joy. I am joy.

“Come to peace with what is…”
Trust and let go of the need to control what we can not control.

“Just find your place and take your stand…”
What intention - stand do you want to take?
What qualities will you embody?

When you are faced with numerous family and professional responsibilities in addition to caring for your parent, it is critical to get clear on what you need to do for yourself to stay healthy and vibrant.

Set some intentions as to how you will communicate with others to create a team rather than having you be the solo player.

Know the boundaries that are important to keeping yourself from taking on too much.

Find some support for yourself, both personally and in your business.

“Take it easy……Don’t let the sound of your own wheels drive you crazy….

“Lighten up while you still can….don’t even try to understand…”

“Come to peace with what is…”

“Just find your place and take your stand…”

Thanks, Eagles, for a beautiful song.
Thank you, Richard Maraz, for your wonderful talk at Unity of Phoenix.

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