Those who grieve well live well. Did you know? Loss is a part of the human experience. It. Just. Is.
For some reason that I don’t really understand our society hates to grieve. We just want to get over it…the quicker, the better. People become uncomfortable if you still miss your loved one after, oh, six months. “Come on”, they say, “it’s been six months. It’s time to get on with your life.”
Like life just stops. It doesn’t. Grief is a part of living.
I learned from a very dear woman (A Woman Named Mary) that it take two to five years to grieve a loss. TWO TO FIVE YEARS! The exact time depends on how close you were and how well you grieve.
A loss is a loss. That doesn’t just mean a death, either. No, grief and loss come in all different shapes and sizes. It’s important to know that it’s okay to grieve, even if it takes you years.
But don’t believe me or even my professional counselor and nurse friend, Google it. Or read about it here: Grieve Well.
How well do you grieve?
Do you know the things you need to grieve? Do you know the things you’ve grieved well?
Another important thing to know about grief is that there is no statute of limitations on the whole grief thing. Meaning that if you have things you’ve never grieved, they’re still there. Matters to grieve just don’t up and disappear. It may seem like they do but usually they just get stuffed way down inside, covered over and forgotten…but not really…
Some people think that God can just zap you, enabling you to go through life without grieving or having to deal with the things we’ve lost. I’m not saying He doesn’t or won’t, but if He were to do that every time we have a grief issue or a difficult situation to deal with, we would cease to grow as the spiritual creatures we were created to be. Life would always be winter, never the vibrant, newness of spring, or the spurting and continuous growth that summer brings.
I don’t know about you, but I’m not a huge fan of winter. It’s as if all you can do in buckle down and hunker in…just get through winter. That’s no way to do life. We were meant to experience life.
All of it.
Joy.
Sorrow.
Laughter.
Pain.
It’s important to look for opportunities to grow. These times often come wrapped as a package we’d rather not deal with.
It really is up to us to grieve our losses. Ask God for help. Find some faithful friends or a trusted family member to journey with you.
Because those who grieve well, live well.
I know the feeling of losing someone close to me and I cannot stress enough how valid this is that it does not go away. It is important for people to have God and their family by their side. But if the rest cannot help, grief counseling will be needed by others.