grief
Grief is a natural and healthy response to death and loss of all kinds. Learn how to cope with the emotional pain, move forward and reclaim your happiness.
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I learned that my sister was dying amidst an array of family conflicts that led to my severely restricting communication with both of my parents. My general rule with my dad was that I would speak with him only about my sister. With my mom, the boundary was different. But similar.
By DCMJ unsilenced5 years ago in Longevity
Letters to Brighid
Dear Brigid, I apologize if this is abrupt or sounds weird. I wanted to write to you and begin a correspondence or at least an acquaintance. I’ve done research on you for years and know at least one person who is your devotee, I love her to bits and thought that anyone that she loves already seems like someone I should get to know.
By Ashtore Driver5 years ago in Longevity
A Picture With No Words Says It All.....
Do remember as a child, looking at picture books. You know I wasn't sure if you say your reading the book since it was just pictures. I used to think that for the longs time, until one day I took a picture. That is when I realized that pictures actually could tell a better story than words can. You can see what is happening and perceive it to how you want it to be. For example, the glass is half full or half empty. I see it as always full of water or full of air, some only see it as one or the other. I wanted people to see just how real that is. How one picture can say more words than the actual person them self could. Yes, this is a picture of myself, from a few days ago. I had found out that I have 6 months to live but the doctors doubt I have that long. The day I received the news for the second time, I lost all hope. I felt like my Soul left me. So, I decided to take a picture and this is the picture I got. It makes me tear up every time I see this, because that feeling comes to me, reminds me of the road I have ahead of me. It also reminds me of what I have been through, and what I have already. This look tells me the story of my own life, kind of like the life flashes before your eyes, type of thing. What can I say my face says it all. Remind me of the hope and faith I had is now gone. In this pictured I see every emotion you can think of coming out like its leaving me. I posted this picture of social media to see if people only see sadness or if they could see more than two emotions. I had numerous amount of people telling me that they had seen more than five emotions. I could not believe that I wasn't the only one seeing this and I had to express this with everyone else. Everything that made my personality was disappearing and I was starting to feel empty and I still do, that's why the sadness of it all is this is what my face still looks like. It is like my new look, my new personality. I don't even know what to call this emotion. I want to know what you think of this picture. How does it make you feel? What emotions do you see? What would you call this emotion? Worried? Sad? All I know is that I promise you, you don't want to ever have this feeling or this look. If you happen to come across this look, whether its on you, or your loved ones, just love them and support them. If this look comes about that means something trepid is about to happen or is happening. Death is a very good way to make this look on anyone faces. All I wanted to do was to share how real emotions are. I know its easy to be one or another but to have this many emotions caught in one look is unbelievable. I was flabbergasted when I saw this picture and I want everyone to be astounded as I am. I hope that when you read this or if you see my photo, that it will inspire you to enjoy life no matter what happens. Also, that you will realize how powerful emotions can be, so let's be kind to on and another. Mental health as you see, can be very perplex and hurtful, so if you see someone look like this they need your help, they are hurting inside and have nobody to talk to.
By Jessica Sheely5 years ago in Longevity
GRIEF
Grief is something that none of us can avoid, whether it is grief of a loved one that has died or whether it is the grief of a mother whose children have flown the nest. We can also experience grief at the loss of a loved career or loss of health and vitality. Whatever that grief, all of us will face it during our lifetimes, especially loss of our loved ones. Grief is probably the most devastating of life trials, that we all face and many of us face it several times during our lives.
By Kaarina Vanderkamp5 years ago in Longevity
5 Truths about Coping with Grief and Loss
Coping with loss and grief can be quite the rollercoaster, and is something that we are facing even more in 2020. After losing my dad to a long battle with cancer, I struggled for years with how to deal with it healthily. Here are five truths about coping,and the grieving process, that I finally uncovered (as well as a quote for each point, written by me). Let them sink in, as well as the knowledge that even though you WILL experience grief, you WILL be okay. Trust the process. Embrace it, without rushing it. Life may never be the same, but that leaves room for personal growth.
By Annie Mae Edwards5 years ago in Longevity
Mourning and Grieving Our Pandemic Losses
So, how are you holding up? How are you feeling with this whole pandemic thing? You doing okay? Hey, if you aren't, you know what? That's okay. I mean, it's unfortunate and I feel for you, but, you aren't alone. And you have no reason to feel like your feelings on this don't matter. They do.
By Chris Hearn5 years ago in Longevity
Death and All Her Friends
We all cope with loss differently. Whether it's a sudden death of a young loved one, or an elderly loved one that was sick. We all have our stories, and it's important to remember that not everyone will grieve how you will grieve. When death comes knocking on our door, she does not come alone. She brings her friend Grief and all her friends.
By TheCoffeeAddictWrites5 years ago in Longevity
The Blissful Art of Dying
It is true that from the beginning stages of life on Earth society begins to teach and condition you to have a fundamental aversion to anything painful, anything not understood. To fear the unknown. When the toddler has a belly ache and throws up any person that witnesses it says "ugh that's to bad" or "eww that's gross". So we are taught that throwing up is not socially acceptable and we fight to hold it in and resist letting it out for as long as we can. Anyone who has ever had a belly ache knows though that throwing up can give you a great deal of relief and once its happened one begins to feel substantially better. Then later in life a family member passes away and the child observes everyone dress in black and put on long faces and say "Uncle Joe has passed away, oh its so sad". This becomes the conditions and the basis of thought for the accepted normal response to death. Finally when the child grows up and has their own kids the cycle begins again. It doesn't at all have to be this way though. We could have a social understanding of death and what its process is. There is nothing really wrong with being sick or dying. Death is only the other end of birth. See one cannot exist without the other. Without death the Earth would become overpopulated and depleted. When one life ends it creates space for new life to begin. So in a way the man that dies should be honored for allowing room for new experiences to unfold. After all life is just a series of happenings. Its much more satisfying for the universe to experience life through continuous new existences instead of the same ones forever. This way it gets to experience renewed ways of thinking. It evolves this way instead of doing the same thing forever. Living forever in the same human experience is not the way we intended to be. If it were we wouldn't have children. See having children is natures way of allowing us to stop. To give it up. To let it go. We reach a point that we can say to our offspring "okay I have done this long enough I have mastered all their is to master now I give it over to you to continue." Humans have adopted the notion that all life everywhere must be saved. Why? That's not in our control. Life wasn't meant to be saved. It was meant to be lived. It was meant to be experienced. It was meant to be enjoyed beginning to end and all points in between. All life is eternal. Once it has been created it will exist forever. This does not mean it will take the same form. It will evolve and adapt and appear in different forms but it will remain an energy forever. Before the world was a world it existed as different particles and after it has been a world it will exist as something else, but it will still exist. It will still live. Maybe not within the laws boundaries and parameters as we understand as humans but it was created just as blades of grass, the stars in the sky, and dinosaurs were created. Its all connected. Its all life. We are all part of it all. Lets go back to pain and our reaction to it. We think of it in a way of pain and the one that suffers from it. Pain is experienced more intensely by those that put a great deal of energy into the resistance of it. Those that fear it or those that worry about it tend to suffer more. The cancer patient that knows she is dying often finds a peace in understanding there is nothing she can do about a situation and nothing she cant do about a situation. Somewhere in the surrender to that, in the giving up to the circumstance she suddenly realizes that she is free. Free from worry and confusion. She is then able to live out her days quite content and as comfortable and happy as she wants to be. On the other hand you have the grandfather that has lived a good life to the best of his knowledge but finds himself in the hospital but no ones giving him answers. He suspects he's dying but everyone insists he isn't. This causes concern and frustrations...resistance. Road blocks in the form of deceptions that prevent him from acceptance and peace. As a society we put our sick and dying away and out of sight in the facilities to spend their end of days out of view so that we are not to be bothered and disturbed by it. See because the big problem we have with people that are sick or dying or in pain is with the noise they make. The remembrance it brings to us that we too will one day die. So we put them away free from our vision and easier on our minds. We return then once they have departed and the only ones burdened by their cries were the others also dying, to burry them and discuss how much they will be missed. Though we dismissed the time we had with them out of convenience for ourselves. Most times they were lied to and told to hold on to hope. That they would soon feel better and be back to playing bridge with Mary Ann around the corner in no time. They spend their last days with strangers instead of loved ones and doped up in a way that death hardly happens. We really do need to evolve different procedures for the sick and dying. Create a different kind of experience in which this happens. If one can go into death with eyes open and have someone help you if necessary to give up before you die. To submit to the release and resistance. To free yourself from the fear of dying then this extraordinary thing can happen to you. You can experience life and death as an adventure without fear and uncertainty. You can detach from the view of life in terms of survival and profit and enjoy it for the process it can be. New life begins and completed life evolves onto the next thing but it does not end instead it gracefully transforms into a blissful new experience for the universe to explore.
By Nevaeh Rhodes (Emily Murff)5 years ago in Longevity
How I Survive and Thrive Loss Loved Ones
I realize that in the month of July 2006 I was totally depressed and did not desire to get out of bed but just stay there with my head covered crying with no hope. I just became a Believer of Jesus in March and notice some changes I needed to make with my life. I love to do self exploring which I was doing with tears in my eyes wondering what happen in July. I just could not remember but every emotions knew that this was a hard time for me. I asked my family questions and was told this is the month my daddy's mother died of Cancer. The flash back of that time came I do not recall the year but the experience was so clear. For two weeks my dad and I would drive 40 minutes to the hospital after getting daily calls that this is the last day we may see her so come quickly. That was the most stressful two weeks ever in my life. After my grandmother died I so hated driving past that hospital. So, In 2006 I made a declaration that I am a new person in the faith and I will not be bound by unhealthy responses to my deceased loved ones.
By Avizz V Wright5 years ago in Longevity
In the beginning
Resa Ferreira Grief, Part 1 Today It was not my husband’s first stroke or the last stroke or any of the strokes in between that brought me to my knees. It was my disconnect. I lost my way and could not remember grief - the depth and breadth of it, the sorrow and angst, and even the joy of it.
By Resa Ferreira5 years ago in Longevity
