International Widow’s Day: Discover 3 stages of widowhood and how to navigate them

Whether it is unexpected or comes after a long sickness, losing a spouse is aching and traumatising! Worst case scenario, it can even come to debilitation. While the pain, grief and muddled thinking are a continuous part of the healing process, the financial aspect is something new widows remain worriedly sick. As per the experts, the newly widowed woman is deeply insecure about her financial future and it is a significant matter that remains glued to each and every stage of widowhood. Financial triage is the widow’s overarching need and feeling safe and secure about her financial future is deeply entangled in the three distinct stages of widowhood. 

Here are 3 stages of widowhood that require the deepest concerns:

Grief

It goes without even saying, grief, the very first stage is the most struggling and devastating. The widow only needs to be heard and understood during this vulnerable time as she is only going through negative intellectual. She does not think clearly and cannot contemplate what her life is going to look like. Making major decisions in life or any kind of planning or preparation is lastly on her list since the widow is just living day by day and cannot envision the future.

Advisor’s tip: Being compassionate and listening properly to her emotions instead of teaching education is the best approach to serve widows and push them towards the next stage. Since she is already worried about her financial condition, ensuring a deep gentle talk about the living and correctly pacing the process of financial planning is the way to go.

Growth

The phase can be defined as the one step ahead! In this phase, the widow’s cognition gets normal and she is getting out of the blur step by step. There is no specific time period that decides the shift to this stage but the circumstances of the husband’s death play a pivotal role in deciding the shift from grief to growth. Sometimes, what happens is women start moving physically but their emotional frame of mind does not get along. It might be slight okay for the woman to progress if the spouse doesn’t go suddenly as she already gets the chance to grieve in advance. 

Advisor’s tip: Be the thinking partner of the widow. Encourage her to finish the things she has started during the phase of grief. Give her suggestions but also take steps with her so that she can move through. 

Grace

The period of grace is also known as transformation. The widow is finally out of all the sorrow and accepted things. She starts redesigning her life by adding a new purpose to it. She starts making new friends, making financial stability her priority. The widow starts planning about monetary things.

Advisor’s tip: This stage is beautiful and rewarding since the widow is on the edge to close that injured part of her life. Ensure the right, polite and respectful language while communicating during this stage of widowhood.

Also Read: 4 Tips to tackle dating a boring partner who is often too negative