Did you know that August is National Wellness Month?  It sure is!  Let’s be honest, women aren’t always the best at taking care of themselves very well.  We prioritize everyone and everything over ourselves.  And widows?  Well, I’d easily place a bet that we take care of ourselves even worse than we did before the death of our spouse.  

Wellness month came about because the reality is that we need to take care of ourselves if we are going to do big things in the world.  Heck, I think we need to take care of ourselves if we are going to do small things in our world!  Don’t you agree?

If you do a little research, you will find that there are different areas of wellness.  How many there are is debatable, but for the sake of this post, I am going to say that there are seven.  These areas are spiritual, physical, emotional, financial, intellectual, environmental, and social.

Now, you may be rocking it in some of the areas and struggling in others.  If I’m honest with myself, I am not rocking it in any one area, but I am doing much better in some than others.  That is okay!  When it comes to wellness, you don’t want to get overwhelmed.  That goes against the whole point of wellness, and when that happens to me, I shut down and rarely make any progress.

Instead, you want to pick one or two areas and try to find ways to increase your wellness.  Once you feel like you have gotten better at the things you picked, continue to increase your wellness in those areas or choose a new area to work on.  The idea is to just continue to make progress towards taking care of yourself because  you are worth it!

Did you read that last sentence?  Read it again.  You are worth it!  Truly, you are!  You are amazing, strong, and brave!  There are people in this world that care about you, and you need to take care of yourself.  You need to remember that in order to take care of everyone and everything as well as you want you also need to take care of yourself.  It’s not selfish to do so!

Want a few ideas of things you all can do?  Oh girls, I’ve got some!  Here are a few:

*read a book     *take a long, hot, relaxing bath     *watch a Ted Talk     *spend time with a friend     *send a letter to a loved one    

*eat more fruits and veggies          *spend time outside     *host a game night     *Write down 5 things you like about yourself    

*Find an area in your spending that you can cut and put that money in savings     *meditate

*share with family and friends what you are grateful for     *Spend time doing your hobby     *Find a new hobby     

*get a massage     *go see a counselor     *sit around a campfire     *exercise

There are literally hundreds of things you could do.  Remember that whatever you choose to do doesn’t have to break the financial bank, but it does need to fill your wellness bank.  I would love to hear from you all.  What are some ways that you practice self-care and promote wellness in your life, or what is something that you want to do?  The mom in me so badly wants to say, “Sharing is caring!” right now.  But seriously, it is great for us women to share ideas with each other and encourage each other to take care of ourselves.  Sometimes we need others to remind us that we are worth it!   

About 

Dawn’s life was forever altered on December 6, 2018 when she got the call that her husband, Jeffrey, had passed away at his work. She quickly learned that Jeff died from a gunshot wound, and detectives determined that it was self-inflicted. Dawn still struggles to wrap her brain around that fact. She will tell you that most days she doesn’t think about that part of it at all. Her husband is gone. The manner in which he died ultimately doesn’t matter. Gone is gone. He will forever be 46. Jeff and Dawn started out as friends in the Fall of 1997. They started to date in January of 1999. On September 3rd, 2000, in front of a beautiful lake, Jeff asked Dawn to be his wife, lover and friend forever. She excitedly accepted, and on June 30th, 2001, they became husband and wife. Together, Jeff and Dawn had 3 children...Ali, Josh & Meghan. During the majority of their 17 years of marriage, Dawn was a housewife and Jeff ran a fencing company. The kind of fencing that keeps children and animals contained. Not the kind of fencing that uses a sword. After Jeff passed, Dawn went back to school to get her special education endorsement. She is proud to be a special education teacher. In her free time, she can usually be found spending time with family and friends. Reading has been her passion since she was just a little girl, but since Jeff passed, she has found it hard to focus on reading. While that is a negative change that has happened on her journey, one positive change is that she has been writing more. Dawn tries to be very open about her journey with the hopes that it will help even just one other person better understand grief. For years, Dawn has been passionate about spreading joy to those around her. She continues to be that way, and now she is very purposeful about trying to focus on the positive things even during a horrible situation. She moves forward on this journey with her mind focused on continuing to honor Jeffrey, as well as trying to raise their three wonderful children in a way that will make him proud. Her hope is to live a life that will allow her to see Jeff in Heaven. She wants to see his smile again and feel his arms around her. Of course, that will be after she hopefully hears her Lord say, “Well done, good and faithful servant!”

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Dawn Cole

Dawn’s life was forever altered on December 6, 2018 when she got the call that her husband, Jeffrey, had passed away at his work. She quickly learned that Jeff died from a gunshot wound, and detectives determined that it was self-inflicted. Dawn still struggles to wrap her brain around that fact. She will tell you that most days she doesn’t think about that part of it at all. Her husband is gone. The manner in which he died ultimately doesn’t matter. Gone is gone. He will forever be 46. Jeff and Dawn started out as friends in the Fall of 1997. They started to date in January of 1999. On September 3rd, 2000, in front of a beautiful lake, Jeff asked Dawn to be his wife, lover and friend forever. She excitedly accepted, and on June 30th, 2001, they became husband and wife. Together, Jeff and Dawn had 3 children...Ali, Josh & Meghan. During the majority of their 17 years of marriage, Dawn was a housewife and Jeff ran a fencing company. The kind of fencing that keeps children and animals contained. Not the kind of fencing that uses a sword. After Jeff passed, Dawn went back to school to get her special education endorsement. She is proud to be a special education teacher. In her free time, she can usually be found spending time with family and friends. Reading has been her passion since she was just a little girl, but since Jeff passed, she has found it hard to focus on reading. While that is a negative change that has happened on her journey, one positive change is that she has been writing more. Dawn tries to be very open about her journey with the hopes that it will help even just one other person better understand grief. For years, Dawn has been passionate about spreading joy to those around her. She continues to be that way, and now she is very purposeful about trying to focus on the positive things even during a horrible situation. She moves forward on this journey with her mind focused on continuing to honor Jeffrey, as well as trying to raise their three wonderful children in a way that will make him proud. Her hope is to live a life that will allow her to see Jeff in Heaven. She wants to see his smile again and feel his arms around her. Of course, that will be after she hopefully hears her Lord say, “Well done, good and faithful servant!”

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