Coping With Grief

With the recent loss of my father in law, it’s brought up so many emotions for me. Even bringing up feelings of previous grief I have experienced. Opening up on the blog today and sharing my personal perspective that may hopefully help someone else.

The thing about coping with grief is that it’s universal. At some point in your life, it’s inevitable you will experience it too. It can be caused by the loss of a loved one, a divorce, miscarriage, or anything that can dramatically alter your life.

Grief is a difficult emotional process to navigate through. It will require an incredible amount of time and patience. And even then, the grief you experienced will always be something you carry with you forever. It’s not something that disappears.

Coping with grief is a healing process that is not linear. It’s made up of ups and downs. And there isn’t one right way to heal. There also isn’t an expiration date. Everyone is different in how they handle grief and the duration of their healing.

A person that has experienced grief has to give themselves a tremendous amount of grace as they go through it all. And find and learn healthy ways to cope, like taking care of your body, mind, and spirit. It’s a time where you need to make sure you get enough sleep, eat healthy and surround yourself with solid support. This isn’t the time to pick up unhealthy vices. Those can lead to a lot more issues down the road.

It’s a long journey and it’s hard. And even though there isn’t a handbook on coping with grief its believed that there are certain stages that some people will go through.

Here are some of the common stages:

• Shock and disbelief
• Sadness
• Guilt
• Anger
• Fear

Just remember you are doing the best you can. Take each day minute by minute. DO NOT OVER EXTEND yourself. If you want to be alone, be alone. If you want to be around others, do it. If you want to cry, CRY. Don’t hold back. Give yourself the grace and time you need and DESERVE. Coping with grief is your own personal journey to healing and what you decide will be right for you. 

The best piece of advice I can give when coping with grief is this, find the itty bitty fragments of joy in your daily life. And relish in them. Those tiny fragments will grow larger over time. They won’t take away your grief but when you are open to those moments they will bring you a sense of comfort.

Much love your way,