Christmas Eve was a night of song that wrapped itself about you like a shawl. But it warmed more than your body. It warmed your heart… filled it, too, with melody that would last forever.
Three months from today is Christmas Eve. Have you started your shopping yet? If you are a widow and this is your first Christmas without your spouse, have you started making plans for how to survive the Christmas season?
Write It Down
One of the best ways to get through the season is to start a gratitude journal. It will help you focus on the blessings in your life. It may not feel like it but there are numerous blessings even though you are feeling pain and sorrow.
Start it now so you are well into the habit when the Christmas season gets into full swing.
Encourage everyone in your family to have their own journal and sit down once a week to compare notes. Each journal will be different and no one’s journal will be better than the rest. You are all unique individuals so what you are thankful for will be unique to each of you.
The grief monster does not like gratitude. He wants to keep you miserable, depressed and seeing only the bad things in life. So lay the smackdown on him by being grateful.
Bad Moments
Yes, even though you keep a gratitude journal you will still have bad moments. But hopefully that is all they will be – moments. It is in those moments you most need to get out the gratitude journal and start writing.
Not Just For The Grieving
By the way, you do not have to be in the midst of a grief journey to do a gratitude journal. The Christmas season is a chaotic and hectic time. What better way to calm your mind than to take some time writing in your gratitude journal while sipping on a cup of hot chocolate.
Your Minimum Daily Requirement
Get our your journal, steno pad, or legal pad and start writing – just 5 a day. You do not have to stop at 5 so feel free to write as many as your heart desires. Then carry your new habit over into 2014.
Today I am grateful for everyone starting a gratitude journal, especially the widows who are using this as a tool to work through their grief.
P.S. I have added a contact form so you can send me a private message if you wish or leave your thoughts in the “Express Yourself” section.
JoyReturns 