All Blog Postings by Mary
Time for Yourself
By Mary Francis · Originally published: November 22, 2021
Archive notice: This is a historical post from Mary’s years of blogging. Some older posts may mention products, courses or shop items that are no longer available, as Mary now focuses her time and energy on supporting widows inside her private Facebook community. The guidance and stories remain here as a free resource for widows.
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Is it hard to find time for yourself? For some widows they have way too much time for themselves, but for others the holidays mean doing the work of two, but all on your own.
For those widows this article is about allowing us to slow down and accepting less. Maybe the Christmas lights don’t need to be installed along the roof lines this year.
We widows often get caught up with the “should” of life – like we “should” be able to do what two used to do, we “should” be on time and we “should” continue without upsetting anyone else’s schedule. Ask yourself what YOU want and where is the best place to spend your time. Surprise – it may be a day at home without having to be sociable.
Holidays are stressful at the best of times, but when grieving it’s an emotional mind field. Here are a few tips to help you get that all important time for yourself.
- Solving puzzles like crossword and sudoku is well known to ease anxiety. Every time we widows successfully complete a puzzle we experience a sense of satisfaction. Solving problems feels like a reward, which helps ward off negative and anxious feelings.
- Taking time for yourself, doesn’t mean staying home to catch up on the laundry. This is time to quiet your inner spirit and needs to be treated as special as it is.
- Lift your spirit by listening and singing along to your favorite nostalgic music.
- Enjoy a Hallmark or Netflix show. Focus on something funny and take it easy on the holiday romance movies.
- Listen to Podcasts that inspire, encourage and talk about purpose, fear and courage. A good podcast is “The Paula Faris Faith & Calling Podcast”. It will give you an instant dose of encouragement from Paula, a Senior National Correspondent at ABC News.
