Managing our Emotions Amidst Grieving

Losing someone you love is never easy. May it be a loved one, a beloved pet, or anything important to you. It’s hard to reminisce those memories that you’ve shared and the routines that you do. But for someone who was left, how do you deal with this loss? There are stages a person goes through while grieving.

First is Denial. Denial helps us lessen the great pain of loss. As we try to deal with the reality of our loss, we are also trying to pull through emotional pain. It can be hard to accept we have lost an important person in our lives, especially when we’re used to having them around.

Next is Anger. It is common to face anger after losing a loved one. We are trying to adapt to new truths and we are likely to encounter a lot of emotional discomforts. There could be too many emotions to deal with and anger could be our way to let it out.

Then there’s Bargaining. When getting through with loss, it is just normal to do anything which we think will lessen the pain you’re feeling. Losing a loved one can make us think of different ways of how we can make it through each day. An activity or anything that can make us forget the pain somehow. There are many ways for us to bargain, as long as it makes us feel better and lighter.

Depression. As we are processing grief, there comes a time when our attention calms down and we slowly start to see the reality of our present situation. Bargaining doesn’t feel like working anymore and the reality that we have lost someone is right in our face. We start to feel the loss of our loved ones frequently and we miss them in everything that we do. As we realize that everything is true and this is our new reality, the feeling of loneliness and sadness becomes inevitable.

Finally, acceptance. When we finally reach acceptance, it is not like we no longer feel the pain of loss. However, we have already accepted the fact that we don’t have our loved ones around, and we are not insisting to make things go back like before. Sadness and remorse can still be present in this stage, but the emotional phases of denial, bargaining, and anger are less likely to be present.

At the end of the day, we have to take care of ourselves emotionally. Grieving is a part of losing someone, but we have to pick up ourselves together and know that life has to go on. We may lose our loved ones around but bear in mind that they will always be there around us, guiding us from above. So keep making good memories with our loved ones while they’re still around.