Grief is something that everyone experiences at some point in life. Yet, what many people do not realize is that, in a strange and meaningful way, grief is connected to something beautiful — love. The truth is, we only grieve because we have the capacity to love. Grief is the emotional cost of caring and loving. Without love, there would be no grief.
That is why grief hurts. We lost something or someone we love, and we miss them. Grief is always about loss.
We grieve when a loved one dies.
We grieve when we lose a job.
We grieve when a pet dies.
We grieve when friends move away or relationships end.
We grieve when we receive a new health diagnosis.
We even grieve when we experience big changes, such as moving to a new town, realizing we're no longer as healthy as we once were, or when our favorite team loses.
Grief shows up whenever we feel something meaningful is missing. And the only way to deal with grief is to go through it, not around it, not by ignoring it, but by facing it. This is always painful, but healing comes through that pain.
Some people try to hold on to their grief for a long time. They think they're being strong or that it's normal, but staying stuck in grief can be unhealthy. Others may seem to move on too quickly and they do not reconcile their loss.
Grief is common, but everyone handles grief differently, and that's okay. For some, it takes longer than most and others go through the process quickly. We are all different, but the key is accepting you are going to go through the process.
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