How Do You Survive The Holidays After The Loss of a Loved One

​Some seasons do not feel like a celebration. They feel like a test.

In this episode of the Good Living Now Podcast, Harold sits down with Rev. Dr. Casey Kimbro to talk about grief during the holidays. Not the kind of grief that fits neatly into a quote, but the quiet kind that sits at the edge of the table where someone used to be.

Dr. Kimbro describes grief as a kind of sickness of the soul. Not in a shameful way, but as a way to name how disoriented life can feel when someone you love is no longer here. You may withdraw, move through the day on low energy, or feel strangely disconnected from the joy everyone else seems to be posting online.

One moment in their conversation stays with you. He talks about “living forward.” After the loss of his wife, there came a day when he realized that moving toward joy again did not dishonor her. It was not forgetting. It was a way of honoring the life they shared by choosing to keep living his own.
The tools he shares are simple, almost ordinary. A daily check in each morning to ask, “What am I feeling and what do I need today.” A short walk. A familiar psalm spoken out loud. A page in a journal that does not need to impress anyone. Remembering past successes and the times you thought you would not make it, yet somehow did.

If you are carrying loss into this holiday season, you do not have to map out the next three years. It is enough to take today in smaller pieces. Hour by hour. Conversation by conversation. Breath by breath.

Get Dr. Casey Kimbrough's book here:
https://www.amazon.com/Love-Beyond-Loss-Healing-Journey/dp/B0DK87Z4BJ
​
For practical wellness tools that support your daily routines, you can explore our broader resources at www.thegoodlivingnow.com.