Grief and Grieving

Over the next few weeks I will be writing on the subject of grief and grieving. I would love to hear your feedback, pushback, and/or suggestions as I write. I pray that I may be of some assistance to you along the way.

If you love anything, you will also grieve. Nothing you love here on earth will last forever so it is just a matter of time when you will grieve, not if. For the object of your affections will pass. Grief is the associated emotional and physical reactions to loss. It is powerful and you cannot avoid the toll it will take.

The Mayo Clinic defines grief as such:

“Grief is a strong, sometimes overwhelming emotion for people, regardless of whether their sadness stems from the loss of a loved one or from a terminal diagnosis they or someone they love have received.

They might find themselves feeling numb and removed from daily life, unable to carry on with regular duties while saddled with their sense of loss.

Grief is the natural reaction to loss. Grief is both a universal and a personal experience. Individual experiences of grief vary and are influenced by the nature of the loss. Some examples of loss include the death of a loved one, the ending of an important relationship, job loss, loss through theft or the loss of independence through disability.”

Please note grief is equated to loss not “just” death. I find it extremely important to know that significant changes in personal relationships will be grieved. A person losing their job will also experience real grieving. A person will often start grieving when they first hear of a future loss rather than when the actual loss occurs.

When you see grief as loss, you can better grasp the necessity of learning to grieve well. When you lose hope, you grieve hope. Grief comes with any loss. A person will often grieve in proportion to what they have lost, BUT it is impossible to measure love or loss with emotions a person feels in association with grief. It is easy to get confused when speaking on this topic.

Grief takes time. I will take my time talking about it. Next week, I will begin to discuss the “Five stages of Grief”. There is a lot of help and confusion when most consider this topic. I’m looking forward to it.