If you’ve ever lost a loved one, whether it was a family member, friend or significant other, you’ve experienced grief. With grief comes a wave of emotions we don’t even know are inside of us, like anger, confusion, fear, sadness, hope and so many more that just seem too overwhelming to take care of all at once. However, grieving and feeling go hand in hand; in order to grief a loved one in its entirety, one must open up and feel all of the emotions that come with the loss. Of course it isn’t easy, facing all of the erratic emotions that open up the void left by a loved one that is no longer with us can be painful, but it helps.
Talking about loss can be the hardest part because it makes us vulnerable to those feelings we so don’t want to deal with. It will hurt every time you think or talk about the person you’ve lost and it will feel as if it will never get better at times, but it will. Talking about something takes us one step further than just thinking about it and dismissing it immediately, it allows us to free ourselves from all of the baggage and emotions that are so heavy to just carry inside. This is why mental health care providers exist, because people need to talk about their emotions, to discuss their grief, and then start their healing process once the initial pain is over with. It is okay to hurt, it is okay to feel all of the emotions you might be feeling and it is okay to talk about it.
Realizing you have all of these emotions inside and allowing yourself to feel them can help you fill the void inside of you. Take your time to really feel them and deal with them at your own pace, but do not repress them inside of you because that is when they start to deal with you, to take over, and drown you when you least expect it. When you feel a lot, you hurt a lot and there is no denying that, but the pain can never stop you from feeling those emotions, the key is to feel them until you can’t anymore, to embrace them until you realize you are still yourself and life will go on. The more you realize you are in the present moment, the more you will have to look forward to in the future.
There is an end to everything in life, even to grief. Once you come across feeling hopeful, hold on to that feeling and move on towards the light at the end of the tunnel. Distracting yourself to avoid feeling can seem like the easiest way out, but it will only be a band-aid solution to a deep cut, and it will take more than that to heal properly. So feel your emotions, talk about them and take yor time, because eventually you will find yourself at the other end of that dark tunnel and it will be oh so worth it. Grief is a complex world on its own, and only after visiting it one can realize that there is a whole world inside of us as well, it will challenge you, push you, make you stronger, and make you take a look into your altered future with hope for whats to come and loving memories of a loved one that can bring you peace and joy rather than bitterness and pain.
Cover Photo: Huffington Post