emilyk

We all have many different life experiences that make us unique. However, if we live long enough, grief is a shared experience many of us carry. Grief can be described as a response to loss. This usually involves the death of someone, but it can also include other losses such as divorce, loss of a home or job, or loss of health or independence. Grief is normal and healthy Grief is a normal and healthy response to loss. We might have grown up with the idea that grieving is abnormal and unhealthy (real men don’t cry), but this just isn’t true. God designed us to love and care deeply, and the response to losing those we love is grief. Not only is it normal, but it’s also healthy. When we refuse to grieve, we actually cause ourselves harm. It’s like a balloon. We can only stuff so much air into a balloon before it pops. We are like that with our emotions. We can only “stuff” our feelings so much before we pop, too. We might explode in anger, experience depression, or even experience physical symptoms such as stomach problems or headaches. Also, unresolved grief can build upon itself when we experience the next grief. When we choose to sweep things under the rug, we are just causing ourselves more work and agony the next time we experience loss. When we grieve, we not only grieve the loss of the person, but we mourn the loss of the roles, dreams, nuances, and routines that went along with our relationship with them. These are called secondary losses. Roles include parts the loved one played that will possibly need to be passed on to others. Some examples of this are the “fun one”, tech guy, party planner, banker, cook, etc. We [...]