Walking Down a New
Journey!
As we think
about the stages of life we have gone through, it seems there have been several
stages of our life’s journey. Now I’m
not saying I’m old – however, some days I feel older than others or my
grandkids remind me that my hair is graying so I must be getting old.
As I think
of my stages of my journey in life, it seems there have been several and many
of you have had several.
- My early years from birth to graduation of high school.
- Adventures from graduation to marriage.
- My married years,
- Becoming a widow.
- Retirement years
As we go
down the journey of life, each stage of our life has its ups and downs. As we think back to our young lives thinking
that life reflects around us. Each of us
has our own goods and bad of growing up.
We often think that when we become that adult at 18 that we are going to
change the world or at least we are going to change how we tackle life.
When I
graduated from high school, instead of going off to college, I decided to make
a big move from Minnesota to Florida. I
was going to ‘find myself’. Little did I
know that these next three years would be a great eye opener for me and I felt
like I had taken the time to figure out who I was (or at least who I thought I
was)? It was a positive point in my life
that I truly enjoyed
I moved back
to Minnesota, met my husband on a blind date and we were married in May of
1973. We had three children together who
are amazing and have given me some pretty amazing grandchildren.
When Dan
died in August of 1996, my world changed and the journey of life took a
completely different look than what I had ever dreamed of. It took several years for me to think about
what I was going to do next.
For so many
widows, it can take anywhere from one – three years to get to know what their
purpose of new journey will be. Each of
you will travel down this journey at a different pace. There are so many things to sort
through. With a huge change of losing
your spouse normal decisions can easily get lost in the pain and that is
normal. A few things to think of:
- Take care of yourself first. You may feel you need to let go of some responsibilities that clog your life that are not really important.
- Do not ignore your health. Exercise is important and releases stress.
- Consider a monthly massage or a pedicure for the lack of touch in your life.
- One thing I highly recommend is keeping a journal. As you write your thoughts and feelings, as you go back and read them, you will help you see how you are healing emotionally.
- Don’t be afraid to ask for help. Those that love you will be there to help you with this journey.
- It is recommended that you avoid making any major life changes for at least the first year.
- If you are concerned about your job, perhaps talking to your HR department about taking a leave of absence or reducing your hours for a period of time.
- You may want to contact your attorney about legal matters especially if you are unsure of where you are financially or legally. If you have a trusted friend or family member, I would suggest they go with you to these types of appointment’s.
As you walk
down this new journey of widowhood, Ecclesiastes 3:1 reminds us:
There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under
the heavens. As you heal, grow, live
and eventually thrive. Even though it
seems like you are so alone on this journey, God is with you.
Take a day
at a time. Find a widow or widow group
to connect with to walk down this journey with.
The first year can be painful and if you have someone to walk the path
with you, it will lighten your journey.
There are
many groups available to help you walk down this journey. You may want to contact your local church, your
local hospice care facility (https://www.hospicesect.org) or check on line at
The Widow Might Organization (https://www.widowmight.org).
My prayer
for each of you is that you take this new journey slowly and allow God to heal
your heart. May you find God’s peace in
your daily life!
