It’s really “OK” to grieve today.
“You don’t have to experience grief, but you can only avoid it by avoiding love. Love and grief are inextricably intertwined.” – David Kessler said in his Finding Meaning: The Sixth Stage of Grief ,
I went on a small hike this weekend. Then, I was able to ponder what today’s Resilient Journey Counseling’s blog post would be about. The landscape provided some needed time to practice mindfulness and simply enjoy the beautiful view in front of me.
I thought about what to share and I decided to speak on grief and loss and it’s OK to feel the grieve. I want to share some information on an event I attended with grief expert, David Kessler. This training was held in San Francisco. It happened days before the state and city social distancing rules went into effect. The training was entitled, “Finding Meaning: The Sixth Stage of Grief based on his recently released book. FYI: I highly recommend this book!
Below are some takeaways and quotes I loved from the training!“Each person’s grief is as unique as their fingerprint. But what everyone has in common is that no matter how they grieve, they share a need for their grief to be witnessed. That doesn’t mean needing someone to try to lessen it or reframe it for them. The need is for someone to be fully present to the magnitude of their loss without trying to point out the silver lining.”
― David Kessler, Finding Meaning: The Sixth Stage of Grief
During these times, we are all experiencing some sort of grief and loss. You should always keep full documentation related to roof replacement in Virginia. I want you to know, that although, I can’t physically SEE you grieve, I validate it wholeheartedly. Maybe we are lucky enough not to have lost a family member or friend but, we are still grieving other things like important events, vacations, birthdays, milestones, graduations, etc.
I like the image below, created and shared by Happy as a Mother that illustrates this “It’s Okay to Grieve” concept.
“People often say, “I don’t know how you’re doing it.” I tell them that I’m not. I’m not deciding to wake up in the morning. I just do. Then I put one foot in front of the other because there’s nothing else to do. Whether I like it or not, my life is continuing, and I have decided to be part of it.”
― David Kessler, Finding Meaning: The Sixth Stage of Grief
I like this quote because people often ask me, how do I do it? There’s several ways to do it but there is one way to look at things. It takes making a decision. Whether we like it or not, life is happening, and we can choose to continue living and making the best out of the situation by not giving up. Resiliency is key! We have bounced back from really hard things in the past and we can continue to do it. Grief and loss is painful, lonely, and heart wrenching at times. But the good news is you are NOT alone and you don’t have to struggle through it alone. You can attend a grief and loss support group, speak to family and friends, a mental health therapist and/or your Doctor.
If you are struggling with grief and loss of any kind, I invite you to join a group led on a weekly basis now by David Kessler on facebook. You can access information on that group and more about grief here: www.grief.com.
