Going through the grief process, recovering, and saying goodbye to a loved a one opens our emotional doors.The emotional roller coaster rides we are on during our grieving is normal. When someone dies or something important is taken away from us, it affects our being physical, mental, behavioral, spiritual, and emotional. Remember, these emotional reactions are normal and natural responses to a loss of a significant person or thing.
We can experience any combination of the below reactions. Our response can vary every second, hourly, daily, and possible weekly.
Emotional: Our emotions can include but not limited to: sadness, anger, guilt, regret, shock, numbness, and anxiety.
Physical: We can respond physically (not limited to) in the following ways: feelings of emptiness, butterflies in our stomachs, lumps in our throats, tightness in our chest, aching or shaking bodies, and over sensitivity to noises.
Mental: We can mentally (not limited to) respond in the following ways: confusion, inability to concentrate, forgetfulness, disbelief, unreality, and susceptible to illnesses.
Behavior: We can engage in the following behaviors: sleep and appetite change, searching and calling, talking the deceased, crying or screaming, and social withdrawal.
Spiritual: We can spiritual respond as follows: loss of purpose, redefine our lives’ purposes, anger at faith and at God.
As we let ourselves experience and work through our grief, we can enter into the healing process of grief.
“And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you” (1 Peter 5:10 ESV).
