Healthy habits tend to disappear when intense stress arrives. We stop exercising, we sleep less, we eat poorly, we stop making health care appointments. Non-grief-related stressors tend to come in bursts that dissipate after a time, allowing us to resume our regular healthy living habits. Grief, on the other hand, brings long-term stress that includes… Continue reading Keep Healthy Habits
As your grief-related Avon Rep, I have a limited time special offer to share with grievers who are in need of a little pampering: a 7-piece Skin So Soft collection for $19.99 ($65 value). The set includes: 2 Skin So Soft Original Shower Gels Skin So Soft Original Body Oil Skin So Soft Original Bath… Continue reading Renew with a 7-Piece Skin So Soft collection
If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading. -Lao Tzu Imagine life as a highway. You’re driving along, and you realize that you are going in a direction you hadn’t intended or the way you thought you wanted to go is turning into something you had not expected. Your… Continue reading Monday Meditation: Allow for Self-Correction
Dear readers, I have become an Avon Representative. Yes, that’s right: I am your new Avon Lady. I joined Avon for a very specific purpose: to contribute to your development of a self-care program. I had been looking into direct marketing for a few years, but the companies I found never grabbed me for one… Continue reading Greetings from your new Avon Lady
When we are no longer able to change a situation—we are challenged to change ourselves. -Viktor Frankl In the wake of a loss, we may pray that someone we know has the ability to raise the dead. Unfortunately, no one does and death remains an unchangeable situation. Frankl, who spent time in Auschwitz, knows much… Continue reading Monday Meditation: A Challenge to Change
The point of power is always in the present moment. -Louise L. Hay In grief, we may tend to worry about what happened in the past or what awaits us in the future. By doing so, we worry about things we can no longer change and things that we cannot foresee. The present moment, the… Continue reading Monday Meditation: Be Present
Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall. -Confucius Grief is far from a smooth path. Just when we think we have mastered some emotion or aspect of grief, something comes along and knocks us off kilter. Maybe we react badly, maybe we feel like we failed. Grief… Continue reading Monday Meditation: Rise Up.
The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong. -Mahatma Gandhi It takes a lot to forgive someone. Many people refuse to forgive because they may feel that forgiving means forgetting, and letting someone else off the hook for bad behavior. It is quite the opposite. Forgiving requires the ability to act… Continue reading Monday Meditation: Strength in Forgiveness
For every minute you remain angry, you give up sixty seconds of peace of mind. -Ralph Waldo Emerson Grief can bring all sorts of anger: at friends and family, at yourself, at your lost loved one, at no one in particular. While anger is part of the grief process, anger can also become an obstacle… Continue reading Monday Meditation: Chose Peace of Mind
It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop. -Confucius There is no time limit for when grief should be completed. You will not be able to plot grief’s endpoint on a calendar. Grief is not a race with a clearly delineated finish. Nor is grief a road trip… Continue reading Monday Motivation: No Matter the Pace, Move Forward
Today is my mother’s 71st birthday. My mother's birthday meant a great deal to her. Given her birthday’s proximity to July 4, her birthday became intertwined with the holiday festivities. My mother told me that, as a child, she believed Independence Day celebrations, the cookouts, and fireworks, were all for her birthday. "Yes," she once… Continue reading Happy 71st!
Part of the healing process is sharing with other people who care. -Jerry Cantrell There is a preconception that people should keep their suffering to themselves. Sad or unhappy conversations should not take place. We can only publically project strength, happiness, and confidence. This is nonsense. Healing requires sharing our pain with others, and in… Continue reading Monday Meditation: Sharing Brings Healing
Grief is in two parts. The first is loss. The second is the remaking of life. -Anne Roiphe The first part of grief is the easy part, believe it or not. The second part can be more challenging. Don’t be afraid to pursue the dreams you had before or to try new things. Don’t allow… Continue reading Monday Meditation: Grief’s one-two punch
The greatest healing therapy is friendship and love. -Hubert H. Humphrey Never underestimate how wonderful a good friendship can be during grief. The person who lets you vent because you just have to get things out, or who laughs at the absurd things you find in your lost one’s belongings, or who just shares all… Continue reading Monday Meditation: Friends + Love
The words of kindness are more healing to a drooping heart than balm or honey. -Sarah Fielding “I am sorry you have to go through this.” “I love you.” “I am here to listen.” “You are so courageous.” Kindness goes a long way in the grief process. For Grief Supporters, kindness can mean the difference… Continue reading Monday Meditation: Kindness Heals
