The holiday season is meant to bring happiness, prosperity, and harmony. However, sometimes those jingling bells beckon the loss of a loved one. The festive colors turn to black, and all hope seems lost.
Losing someone during the holidays is especially hard. We understand that. However, you should know that it was meant to be, and it is not your fault. The only thing you can do now is to accept reality and embrace it. The grief that would ensue would be hard to cope with. So, we are here to help you through it with today's brief.
How To Deal with Loss During the Holidays?
These four tips will not magically lift the burden of grief that the loss of someone important to you left on your shoulders. However, we hope that these strategies will help you cope with it in the healthiest way possible:
You must understand that loss and grief are a part of life. Trust us when we say that fighting your way through it with zero emotion on your face will do more harm than good. It is okay to cry. Shed a tear for that person who you thought would always be there in front of your eyes. Shed a tear and know that it is okay to be vulnerable at such a time.
Coping with grief doesn't necessarily mean that you must move on. Granted, we all must let go and live our lives, but that doesn't mean that we try to weed out the memories of the departed from our hearts.
In fact, we recommend that you embrace it. How about you pay a tribute to them by donating to a worthy cause or planting a tree? You can even write a letter to them and talk about how you feel.
Setting Healthy Boundaries
Holidays, with all the hustle and bustle that they bring with them, can get a bit too much when you're grieving. However, it is okay if you don't feel like celebrating. It is completely fine if you say no to hangouts and want to stay at home and give some time to yourself.
However, do know that there will be some things that you will not be able to control. Festive music would still blare from the TV, and you will still see your family and friends posting about their happy moments on social media.
Reaching Out
While you cannot prevent others from celebrating, you should always know that you are not alone in this grief. You have people in your life who are so proud of all that you have achieved and would love to be a part of this phase of your life.
You need not go out to... well, reach out, either. A simple text or FaceTime would suffice. Talk about what's bothering you. Trust us, it does help. Also, sometimes your loved ones might not prove sufficient when you're grieving. That's okay too. You can always seek out professional help and talk to a therapist.
Books about grief and loss:
Keywords: holiday stress, grief and loss, sadness, family time, Christmas time, relationships
