I’ve taken a break from the blog the last month to grieve the loss of my grandmother. My husband is also grieving the loss of two of his co-workers and friends. We were hit back to back with deaths of people close to us. It definitely takes a toll on your mental health as well as your physical health.

Although I wasn’t close to my husbands co-workers, he worked everyday with them and they became very close friends of his. Seeing him go through the grieving process as well as the additional pressures and changes at work has been difficult. It has affected our whole family.

The majority of my blog has focused on physical health leading to happiness but I’d also like to address how much an effect mental health can have on your happiness. It seems obvious to say that but making that effort to think about your mental health isn’t something we think about on a daily basis. Sometimes, physical health takes the front seat and we often neglect our mental health.

I’ve kept up with my 30-Day exercise challenges but I haven’t done any walking for over a month now. I was really good about walking 20-25 minutes a day, four to five times a week but I stopped the day before my grandmother passed and I haven’t been able to pick it back up. I’ve been thinking about doing it for the last two weeks but that’s as far as it’s gotten.

As far as my eating habits, I’d have to give myself a B. I haven’t completely fallen off the wagon but I have cheated more than I usually do and sweets have been harder to say no to.

One of the most useful things I’ve been doing is practicing gratitude everyday. I’ve been reading about how it’s something that’s good to do as part of a daily routine. I have to admit, were days that I forgot but for the most part, I’ve been trying to do it everyday. In the beginning, I would think about general things like having a place to live, family and friends. These are all things that I’m very thankful for but I started to find that I would say the same thing everyday. It’s great to remember the big things that you’re thankful for but I was missing many of the little things that I often take forgranted. Examples are clean water to drink, clean air to breath, a nice summer breeze, the sound of my son laughing. I always feel a little burst of energy after I finish this exercise and it’s the number one thing that’s been helping me cope with the loss of my grandmother.

I’ve also been working on lightening up the mood in our house by doing some decorating. Fall is one of my favorite times of year to decorate. I’ll be posting a fall decorating article later this week.

In the mean time, we’re just taking it day by day and doing our best to move on. It’s hard because I’ve been feeling guilty about moving on even though I know it doesn’t mean forgetting. I suppose it’s a process a lot of people need to go through? In the mean time, practicing daily gratitude and making sure to not completely fall off the diet and exercise wagon has helped me to keep pushing though.

If you would like to share ways that have helped you deal with the loss of a loved one, feel free to comment below.