Losing someone close to you is something that none of us ever want to have to go through, but it’s something that we should expect to happen in our life at various points. We lose people quickly, from freak accidents to long illnesses, some die young, and some die old. However, grief is something that’s complex and different for everyone. Here are some tips to get through the loss of a loved one.
Acknowledge Your Feelings
It’s important to acknowledge your feelings because it’s something that we often tend to avoid when we’ve lost someone. We’ll focus on a thing that distracts us, and if we feel ourselves getting upset or thinking about that person, many of us will tend to push the feelings back, and that is never going to be helpful for you getting yourself through this grieving process. So the first step to getting through the loss of a loved one is to acknowledge your feelings. These might be different from just sadness, it could be anger or hatred that you’re feeling and it’s important to acknowledge and feel all those feelings that you are experiencing at that moment. Don’t allow yourself to push it away, embrace it and let it consume you for a brief period. As time goes on, you’ll start to feel a little better because you’re letting those emotions in and acknowledging that they’re there, even if they’re going to take time to slowly fade.
Speak To Someone Who Gets It
Are ghosts real? Do you feel like you felt the presence of your loved one in your room, or do you sit and talk to them as if they’re still there? Maybe you leave voicemails on there phone or speak to others about them like they still live on earth. It’s totally normal to feel and react in this way, but not everyone will understand it. Usually, grief is supported by those who have been through it themselves and sometimes, death can be fresh and new, each time it happens. So whether it’s someone who knew the person you’re grieving and feels the same way or is a stranger that you’ve met at a support group whose going through the process too, speak to someone. It’s important to communicate our feelings and to pour them out to others who might understand it a little more than most.
Take Time To Focus On Yourself
Grief is all-consuming, and you might often feel like it’s overwhelming you at times. If that’s the case, then you’ll certainly want to try and find some peace and a distraction when it all gets too much. The best way to distract yourself is by taking time to focus on yourself. When you’re going through this type of pain, self-care is something that’s really important. You want to take the time to really indulge in yourself and to do things that bring you joy and happiness. It could be taking a pamper evening where you have a bath, paint your nails and do a face mask. You might want to go on a long walk with your partner or do a hobby like baking or painting. Find what it is that brings you happiness and try distracting yourself with it when you need some time to yourself.
Try To Remember The Memories Created
When we lose someone, we simply focus on the person that we’ve lost and the things that we’ll never get to experience with that person. However, in order to preserve their memory and to remember them for who they were, try to shift your focus and attention on the memories that were created. Instead of hurting over the things you won’t get to do, remember the things you did do with that person and reflect on all those happy memories. Take out the photo albums or look on your social media feeds for the memories that involve you and them. Grief is hard enough to deal with when it comes to the emotional toll it takes, and you don’t want to add any more to it. Find peace in knowing that you had plenty of happy memories with that person, and that’s what needs to be remembered.
Allow Yourself To Grieve
Grief is hard to go through. It’s something that might not a feeling or process that you can do on a particular day, and that’s ok. Grief has no time limit, and for some, it never goes away. It’s how you cope with it but also allowing yourself to grieve. We all have different ways in which we grieve where some might feel it, to begin with, and others find it later on. No one is right or wrong in their grief, and it’s important to remember that. Allow yourself that time to grieve and to feel those raw emotions that might be overwhelming and harrowing at time. It’s all part of the process, and each time you do so, it’ll take you that little bit closer to feeling more at comfort with the fact that they’re no longer here.
Find Ways To Cope
Coping mechanisms are going to be greatly beneficial when it comes to grieving, and again, there are lots of different ways that you can do it. For you, coping might be having some normality of a routine so that you don’t feel like everything has gone off the rails and that you have some degree of peace amongst the chaos. Others might find that spending time with others is better, but then there’s some that might want to be completely alone. Finding those ways to cope is going to make it easier for you to navigate the next week, month and year as you go through the grieving process. It’s what you do during the anniversaries of the deaths and what you do to cope in those times where you’re reminded of them.
Getting through the loss of a loved one is something that is difficult to do but with these tips, hopefully, you’ll find some comfort eventually.
