Shit happens.
People leave us, we flunk out of college, our iPhones get stolen, our grandmothers die. Loss is a matter of fact for everyone walking this earth, and we each have our own unique and understandable emotional response. Grief is a natural reaction to the feeling that something or someone we treasure has been taken away from us. The grieving process includes a variety of coping strategies including denial, isolation, anger, bargaining, or depression. I'd like to add my personal favorites: righteous indignation, moving to a new town, or getting a morbid tattoo. The thing to remember, however, is that grief does not take orders from our brains!
You can't hurry love, and you can't hurry grief.
It takes time to heal. Sometimes weeks, sometimes months, and sometimes if you're very unlucky, longer than The Final Rose Episode of The Bachelorette. But regardless of the time frame, remember to be patient and kind with yourself, and to let your process unfold naturally.
As a Registered Marriage and Family Therapist Intern, it seems like blasphemy to decry the merits of feeling our feelings. But I wonder, what else can we do to support ourselves as we're praying for deliverance?
The answer came in a wonderful TED talk by Neil Pasricha, who reveals 3 secrets to leading a truly awesome life!
Lonely Forever? No Way.