Today’s post is from my dear husband, Tom. I hope you enjoy his writings as much as I do. He will be posting twice a month:

As the pain increases and the heartache is prolonged, we hurting parents begin to let go of other things that were important in our lives at one time. These could be other relationships, doing fun things with our spouse, enjoying good music or hobbies.

Another thing we let go of is our health.  This can show up in our eating, sleeping and exercise patterns. We find ourselves at the doctor’s office more, then picking up medications at the drugstore we didn’t need in the past. Surgery or other procedures need to be scheduled. Perhaps medical equipment is on the night stand next to our bed that used to be reserved for a good book.

Stress is dangerous when it’s prolonged. Stress over a child struggling with issues we have no control over can destroy us as well.

Maybe our health wasn’t that good before our children decided to make destructive choices. This agony doesn’t help. Sometimes it gives us a false excuse to continue making destructive decisions ourselves.

I am convinced that finding the courage to start engaging in physical exercise of some kind will prove to be a positive step in reducing the negative effects  of stress on our bodies. We may find our moods lifting, our energy increasing, our outlook brighter and over time our bodies will thank us for loving them, too.