Fitness: The Holiday Perspective

by Heather Long | More from this Blogger

The holidays are a joyful time and a time when we think of family and friends and we gather together and we celebrate. But the holidays are also a time when we remember those who are not with us and those who have left us before. It doesn't matter if the people we mourn past from us a decade ago or a week ago, that grief is revisited as we bring our families together. Just a few days ago would have marked my grandmother's 86th birthday, but she left us 8 years ago and that grief, though tempered by time is still with us.

The death of a loved one can destroy you and make you forget that you are not alone. Sometimes we can't fix everything and we have to face it, but we're not alone when we face it. Christmas time is a good time to remember those we have loved and no longer enjoy the company of - for my husband it's his father and his grandmother he thinks of and for myself it's my grandmother. We place ornaments on the tree for them and we think of them at our different celebrations - it's important that we remember them because as long as we do - they have not truly left us.

Mental & Emotional Fitness

Grief can leave us feeling powerless and helpless. It can create a wound that doesn't quite heal and sometimes, even when it has healed, we feel the ache of the old wound from time to time - and one of those times is the holidays. It's important to share those feelings and to talk about them with our loved ones and those we trust. We remember and hopefully we remember them with a smile and with fondness.

It's important that we don't bury this grief or let it eat us from the inside out. It's important that we don't let the loss of our loved ones make us feel alone and bereft. We are not alone and though we miss them and there is a part of us that will always miss them - we need to remember that.

We honor our family and we embrace them at the holidays and we remember those who cannot be with us and we celebrate them as well - how do you and your family remember your loved ones?

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Learn more about Heather Long

Heather Long is 35 years old and currently lives in Wylie, Texas. She has been a freelance writer for six years. Her husband and she met while working together at America Online over ten years ago.

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