Tanna Marshall

Sometimes we get so caught up in our busy work and what we feel we “should” be doing that we lose sight of our truth. I have spent several years, it seems like, in this mode. Thanks to the advice of a wise coach I am working with, (thanks Beth!) I took a step back from my business and took all the pressure off myself with everything I have been working so hard toward this year. Ironically, even though I have been devoting myself to these new endeavors, and I have accomplished quite a lot, at times it’s been slow going. Often it's difficult to fully focus on my business when my primary role is being my mother's full-time caregiver. But I love what I do, I love my clients and I love the new projects I'm working on. Even so, sometimes you need to take a step back to find out what your truth is and what might be holding you back before you can move forward. This can also be challenging when you have well-meaning people around you telling you what they think you should be ...

Eight years ago as my father was dying, he asked me to move in with my mother and help take care of her. She didn’t need much caring for at the time, but I believe he was thinking long term, probably thinking forward to the point where we are now. I’m happy to do it – my parents have done everything for me and spoiled me rotten my entire life so this is the least I can do. Taking care of my mom is not always easy, but I consider it an honor and an adventure in making her life as happy as possible. As I have learned in my caregiver support group, I have two jobs when it comes to Mom – make sure she feels loved and that she feels safe. Mom is 83, blind in one eye, has early stage Alzheimer’s (or “Old Timers” as she calls it), dementia, diabetes, high blood pressure, congestive heart failure and arthritis. I know. All things considered she’s doing really well, in my opinion, and I like to think that I’ve helped her maintain a quality life. We get along really well and enjoy each...

Have you ever been so exhausted that you can’t seem to function? You read your emails and none of it registers? You leave your cell phone in the refrigerator and don’t remember doing it? Your body feels like it weighs a ton and you have to drag it around? You just want to sit and do nothing because you don’t have the energy to do anything else? Today is one of those days…and I worked out this morning in spite of being extremely tired. Now I'm really exhausted.  Let me preface – my husband and I had a busy weekend, cleaning out a property for sale that needed to be vacated by yesterday. It was a mad dash to clean out every nook and cranny. Fortunately, we had the help of the people who had been living there so it progressed nicely, but everyone was exhausted. I cannot even imagine how tired my husband must be feeling today. This was his schedule for the past week – up early in the morning (he is normally a night owl who sleeps from approximately 4am to noon), working all day, c...