Loss

These past few years have hit me hard with losing family members, sickness striking family and friends, mothers having to say good bye to their babies before they even get to see their face, and much more. It also has been filled with blessings like babies being born and family saved. Even with the blessings, it's hard not to focus on the pain. I just recently read the following to help those going through their loss:

"five essential tasks anyone who has suffered a loss needs to do to help heal grief".
1. Accept the reality of the loss.
2. Experience and talk about the painful feelings caused by the loss until healing takes place.
3. Put your life back together by making decisions, taking actions that are constructive and that make a difference for what you have lost.
4. Put the loss into the wider context of meaning and faith.
5. Reach out for mutual help to others who have suffered losses.

I hope this helps someone going through a loss. I used it last year after having a c-section. No, I didn't lose my baby. Thank God! My loss was not of a life but of a desire for a natural birth for my child. No, it wasn't the end of the world but it felt like that in some ways. In any case, your loss may not be of a life. Some of you have lost the chance of having another baby. Whatever your loss, these steps should help. The length of your grief process will not be the same for everyone or every situation. Just take it one second at a time. Soon your seconds will turn into minutes, then hours, then days, and so on. I pray God's blessings and peace on all of you.