Navigating V-Day for the widowed and divorced - KAIT-Jonesboro, AR-News, weather, sports

Navigating V-Day for the widowed and divorced

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By Daisy Whitney

Valentine's Day can be particularly tough if you have just lost a partner or are recently divorced, says Debbie Mandel, author and radio host.

If you have just lost your partner, consider the following strategies for Valentine's Day.

  • Create a ritual commemorating your love like visiting a place you both enjoyed, such as the beach, a park or a hike. Recall your partner to life with a beautiful or humorous memory. 
  • Create a new ritual for yourself. Rediscover your new identity and fall in love with you. Go to a spa to be touched again with a massage and facial. Do a new workout like belly dancing.
  • Delight in your five senses. Try to do something special for every sense from aromatherapy to music.

If you are newly divorced, here are a few ways to make it through the day.

  • Buy yourself a special gift that symbolizes who you are or who you wish to be.
  • Begin your "New Year" of love with a positive, healthy change for the better, whether it is being an attentive listener instead of a talker, or eating a balanced breakfast, or exercising three times a week, Mandel says. Now is the time to do it for you.