Grief During the Holidays

The holiday’s can be brutal or difficult for anyone who has lost a loved one at any point in their life. The saying time heals all wounds is not necessarily the case for most people. Grief can come in waves and just like waves of the ocean they can be smooth sailing or tumultuous. With the aspect of family members in mind as a source of grief it is important to know that we can grieve in various aspects of our life. With what can be considered beautiful transitions in life grief can follow. Transitions can bring about these aspects of grief out, because we may grieve what once was or what could have been.

Here are the 5 stages of grief:

1. Denial
2. Anger
3. Bargaining
4. Depression
5. Acceptance

One important fact about the stages of grief is that they do not have to be sequential or one after the other. You can jump from various stages and do not suddenly one day graduate from one to another.

5 Tips to cope with the 5 stages of grief

1. Reminding yourself of grief is temporary- There will be waves of grief but the degree in which you feel grief will vary at every point. Just like waves of the sea they will come and go.
2. It is okay to feel your emotions- Give yourself the space to feel what you need to feel. When we bottle up our emotions then tend to spill out into other areas of our lives.
3. Remind yourself that grief can show up in even positive events in life in the form of transitions- Starting a new job, moving, going back to school or having a child can all be forms of transition that can bring forth us missing the people we once were.
4. Remember that the holidays can be hard for a lot of us- Lead within the holiday season with compassion.
5. Most importantly have self-compassion and be kind to you- What does that look like is being mindful of your self talk and keeping our thought life in check.