Please answer these questions honestly and consider how far you have come in your grief journey: • I have given myself permission to grieve when I need to. • I am expressing my grief and not burying it inside me. • I have more physical and emotional energy than I did at the start. • I am not as depressed and I can concentrate. • I no longer feel like crying most of the time. • I can control my emotional moods. • I can sleep all night without taking any sleep aids. • My appetite is back to normal and my weight has stabilized. • I no longer go mindlessly through my day. • I have outgrown the feeling that I am losing my mind. • I am beginning to be more sociable. • I feel emotionally alive rather than emotionally dead. • I understand the grief process and the stages of grief. • I know that I need to grieve and I'm comfortable talking about my feelings. You need to work through your grief and I hope that you were able to check off some items on the above list. It is a long journey and it does take time but women are amazing and we get there with the help of our family and friends.