I spent an hour on the phone with a widow from another state the other evening. She was “stuck”. She didn’t know how to move forward. She had continued her hobbies since her husband had passed, but was losing interest. She felt herself slipping… Slipping to that place where you teeter on the line between depression and going even deeper… despair.
You believe you have to pull out of it because fear sets in. You begin asking yourself, “Will I ever be normal again?” I get it. I was there too. We connected. I began suggesting some things to help her get out of her mental box and broaden her thinking. I even mentioned how I met my husband which was on an online dating service. (That action was truly out of my comfort zone!) She busted out laughing!
We both kept laughing for almost a minute. She then exclaimed, “Stop, did you hear that?” I said, “Hear what?” She enthusiastically said,”I was laughing and laughing hard. I haven’t done that in a month.” I remember too when I laughed for the first time after my loss.
It was a baby step toward becoming whole again. She is on her way!
My lesson: Find ways to laugh.. heals!
