I orginally wrote this piece three years ago and it was published on the Huffington Post. I’ve updated it here and continue to practice this holiday tradition to this day with my children. I hope you will adopt it as well. It’s a priceless gift you can give them that will someday mean the world. Michelle The Christmas Letters …
I just recently turned 47 years old, and what I’m about to tell you may seem cliché, but it’s all true. I’ve lived through some solemn life lessons, but they have made me who I am, and truth be told, I’ve never been better or loved myself more. Honestly, I’ve never been better. I have been younger. Thinner Heavier I’ve …
It’s time we STOP believing that all trauma healing work happens in our minds, we must reconnect the body, and it’s rightful place on our healing journey. ~Michelle Steinke-Baumgard, One Fit Widow When I got a phone call that would forever shape my world, I instinctively turned to fitness to handle my stress, trauma, and grief. I was called to …
Nearly ten years ago, I was given exclusive membership to one of the world’s crappiest clubs. October 9th, 2009 – the day I went from being half of M & M, Mrs. Michelle Steinke, and the wife of Mitchel Steinke to becoming a widow. No thanks. You can keep your membership card because at 36, with a one and nearly …
I became a solo parent in the blink of an eye on a cool October morning. I woke up as a family of four and went to bed that night, a mother of two, very young children who had a dead Dad. The shift in personal reality is beyond startling; it’s life-altering, dark, all consuming, and throws your body into …
By Guest Contributor – Mary Kate Tischler https://badasswidow.wordpress.com When I’m not playing the role of the Badass Widow, I am a lawyer for network news. That means I read more than my fair share about death. So much so that I’m largely desensitized to it at this point, as I’m sure many of you are, too. Even working on reports about …
Progress – When I Googled it, the example sentence was, “The darkness did not stop my progress.” How appropriate is that?! If you’re reading this post, it’s safe for me to assume that you’ve lost someone you love at some point. And you’ve likely experienced or are experiencing that darkness (which can be especially difficult during the holidays). Maybe you …
I stand before you… broken. My heart has endured a level of pain that no words created for humanity can adequately capture. To understand the anguish, you must walk the road of the bereaved. It’s as if my soul had been swallowed by an immense dark, deep and an endless black hole. The lack of light has left me unsure …
(An excerpt from my best-selling book, Healthy Healing) Sitting on a beautiful beach in Los Cabos, Mexico, I hit my personal rock bottom. I remember sitting there, looking out at the beautiful turquoise sea, and thinking that all I wanted to do was curl up and cry. For the first time in my entire life, I hated myself, and the …
The darkness will come, and it will envelop all that you are and take what feels like your very last breath to survive. It is all but guaranteed. Not one person escapes this life without personal pain and difficult days. We all know loss, we all learn grief. It may look different for each person but loss is loss and …