Tag Archives: comfort

Monday Meditation: Gratitude & Thanksgiving

Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow. -Melody Beattie The holiday season is never easy when you’re grieving. No matter how recent the loss, you will always wish your loved one was there. As you celebrate Thanksgiving this week, take time on Thursday to reflection onContinue reading “Monday Meditation: Gratitude & Thanksgiving”

Man’s Search for Meaning (Viktor Frankl)

Viktor Frankl’s memoir about his internment in concentration camps and how we can thrive despite trauma.

Practice Self-Kindness

We seem conditioned to believe that kindness is an outside offering that comes to us rather than a gift we bestow on ourselves. I was struck by how simple kindness was undervalued among some grief supporters. Kindnesses are paid during the funeral period, but after the funeral kindness slowly evaporates, perhaps as part of theContinue reading “Practice Self-Kindness”

Monday Meditation: Go ahead, have a good cry.

Heavy hearts, like heavy clouds in the sky, are best relieved by the letting of a little water. -Christopher Morley Crying is good for you. Tears reduce stress hormones from your body, the remove irritants and lubricate your eye, and tears also contain antibodies. Our emotional tears help stress leave our body and increase endorphinsContinue reading “Monday Meditation: Go ahead, have a good cry.”

Monday Meditation: Rise Up.

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. GriefContinue reading “Monday Meditation: Rise Up.”

Monday Meditation: Strength in Forgiveness

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 actContinue reading “Monday Meditation: Strength in Forgiveness”

Monday Meditation: Sharing Brings Healing

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 inContinue reading “Monday Meditation: Sharing Brings Healing”

Monday Meditation: Friends + Love

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 allContinue reading “Monday Meditation: Friends + Love”

Monday Meditation: Kindness Heals

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 differenceContinue reading “Monday Meditation: Kindness Heals”