I’m here at the 2010 Camp Widow in San Diego and having an amazing time thus far.

In the amazing connections I’ve made in such a short time (it’s how we widows work…warp speed), I’ve been recalling something I’ve learned in the 3 years since my baby’s death, but is brought even more to the forefront in an environment such as this, where growth is ‘aplenty.

I read a quote that stated, ” It is only once we’ve stepped outside our comfort zone that we truly start living.”

As widows, or for myself in the least, grief was a comfort zone. I chilled out with it, cried with it, drowned myself in it, and leaned on it. Grief was my torn heart’s friend. A companion that didn’t give back, but fed off the woe like fish to algae.

It was only once I realized that grief was something I could not only survive without, but thrive without, that I did it….I took my first step…outside of the pain, anger, what if’s, why me’s…and found myself in a place I had almost forgot…a place of happiness.

So as I sit here in my hotel room at 1 in the morning, I challenge you. I challenge you to feel life for the good…smile because it feels right…laugh because it rolls out of your lungs…and live because it is what we are made for.

Step outside your comfort zone….I have a money back guarantee it’ll be worth it. I’m living it right now as proof. I’m living it because of my fellow widows, my friends and family, and most of all…because Michael. All those things combined are worth more than any grief.