How do you grieve? Do you stuff your face with donuts? Do you bury yourself with work? Do you sleep a lot? Do you isolate yourself? Do you go into self-destruct mode and engage in behaviors and activities that will negatively impact your present and future?
Ways to Help You Grieve
There isn’t a right or wrong way to grieve, but there are better ways to grieve for example:
Engage in positive outlets
Maintain relationships with trustworthy and dependable people
Get out of your usual surroundings, and explore new environments
Pray
Breathe
Workout
Eat moderately
Avoid substance abuse and dependency
Express your thoughts and feelings with trustworthy people
Love yourself
Prioritize your health
Forgive yourself
Let go of any burdens the grief is causing in your life
Sleep
Have cry sessions
Drive and take in the views
The list goes on and on for healthy activities you can execute during your grief. For me, at least two ways I grieve are by sleeping and walking (exercising) a little more than I usually do.
Sticking to the Routine Isn’t Always Feasible
It’s not always easy to stick to the routine. For some, it will be necessary to deviate from the usual routine because it hurts too much to engage in structure. For others, the structure can mitigate the pain of grief by providing a positive avenue to channel the grief.
When you’re grieving, does your quality of life increase without structure or increase with structure? Do you need to maintain your work, or do you need to take a break? Everyone is different.
How Do You Grieve?
The more positive activities you do, the better the grieving process will be; it won’t be perfect and painless, but it will eventually help make your grieving process more bearable. If there is anything I’ve learned about grieving, time is on your side. There is not a deadline for when the grief will end, but it will mitigate over time.
Life Will Get Back To Normal: “When difficult times arrive, remind yourself that life will go back to normal even if it’s a new normal. Whatever you are experiencing will eventually pass. The truth doesn’t diminish what is happening, but it allows you to find the light at the end of the tunnel by recognizing that time will keep moving forward. And in time, you will be okay once again.” —Cyndie Spiegal
What Happens After You Grieve?
Life can return to normal, or the new normal, as Cyndie discusses above. But it doesn’t always go this way for some. If you become too enraptured in your grief, you can develop a downward spiral for your life and get stuck in depression, unhealthy habits, and a life that has less meaning to you.
The only person that can pull you out of the dark hole you may go into when you’re grieving is yourself. You have to find a new reason or remember your previous reason for getting out of bed every day. You have to find new meaning to keep you on the path you were destined to walk.
Destiny S. Harris is a writer, poet, entrepreneur, teacher, and techie who offers free books daily on amazon. Destiny obtained three degrees in political science, psychology, and women’s studies. Follow her on instagram, facebook, destinyh.com, or join the tribe.