"No one ever told me that grief felt so like fear."
- C.S. Lewis, A Grief Observed
In yesterday's post, I listed a few important things to remember when going through a loss of any kind. Here are a few more:
- Sometimes it can be very difficult or scary to let others close to you after you’ve lost someone. That’s a normal thing to feel! However, social support is incredibly important when going through the grieving process. (It sometimes seems that it's not worth the pain to love or to hope...IT IS, even when it doesn't feel that way!)
- Grief isn’t a purely emotional experience. Grief will affect you emotionally, mentally, physically, and spiritually-it will affect the entire person, not just the emotions of the person.
- Sometimes people feel guilty or like they are discounting the grief or the love they had for the person if they laugh or have any moments of happiness. Again, this is normal for many people going through the grieving process. However, laughter doesn’t take away the love that you have for the person, or mean that you aren’t in pain. You can grieve and laugh all in the same day-that is OK and even healthy!
Have you ever felt like any of these things when going through a loss? How do you think grief & fear are similar?
Returning the visit from #commenthour. What great resources you are providing here! I will definitely be doing some looking around! :)
ReplyDeleteAhhh, I am still struggling with grief, so I enjoyed this post.
ReplyDeleteOne of my best friend's brothers was killed in Jan '10 in Afghanistan at 19 years old. I had known him forever, and he was the first friend of mine to pass away unexpectedly (and so young). Grief hit me hard & in ways I never expected. It wrapped itself around my relationship at the time, and turned it into a sinking ship we attempted to keep afloat for nearly a year afterward. Looking back, ending things with my boyfriend at the time, would have been the healthiest option, and I think I would have grieved easier, but I was too scared to lose something else, even though it was clearly not working & not beneficial to anyone.
Oh wow- I'm so sorry to hear of your loss. It's hard to lose people at any age, but especially ones who are young and so full of life. I have a few more posts on grief, along with some resources that are coming as well. Anything specific that you'd like to read more about, just let me know!
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