Caregiving requires taking risks

I had to chuckle when I saw this latest result from my AncestryDNA panel: “Your DNA suggests you avoid taking risks.”

It’s quite an accurate assessment, at least in my personal life. When I do take risks on a personal level, I tend to go big. For example, I attended college halfway across the country from my home. After college, I moved to Atlanta without knowing anyone. And for my 50th birthday, I took a literal leap that I still can’t believe I did. I’ve carried a bit of that adventurous spirit with me by engaging in activities like riding in autonomous vehicles.

But most of the time, I make prudent, thoughtful choices after much consideration of benefits and risks.

In my professional life I’m much more open to risk-taking: throughout my career, I’ve been open to experimenting with new technologies and methods, often leading the charge.

Nothing prepares one adequately for becoming a caregiver. You’ll be taking risks and pushed outside of your comfort zone on a daily basis. Often decisions have to be made quickly and you’ll be forced to muddle through and face uncertain outcomes. My story that appears in the new Chicken Soup for the Soul: Best Cat Ever collection is about taking a risk in the most improbable circumstances. Without indulging my heart in that moment, I would have missed out on the love of a precious cat.

Chicken Soup for the Soul: Best Cat Ever goes on sale Oct. 27. If you happen to be in the metro Atlanta area, you can stop by the Good Mews Harvest Market on Oct. 24 to purchase an early signed copy. All proceeds will go to the shelter where I adopted the star of the story, Rosalie.

Here’s the social post that won my heart. Look at that sweet, bewildered face! It’s not lost on me that according to this profile, Rosalie also didn’t like change. Another sign that we were meant to find one another.