We are currently looking for an Official SelfGrowth.com Guide to "Grief and Loss". If you have expertise in Grief and Loss and your own website and/or product for this topic, please review this form for complete details. The Official Guide Position is part of our Premium Placement Package
When you open yourself to love, you open yourself to loss. When you suffer the loss of someone you love, you experience the painful emotion we call grief because it's a natural response to loss. Yet, to the person going through this afflictive emotion, the experience feels overwhelming because ... Views: 1762
The pursuit of the truth shall set you free - even if you never catch up with it.
- Clarence Darrow
We all aspire to know and express truth in one way or another. We want to base our life decisions and actions, minor and major, on the best information ... Views: 1761
As I write this, the house is quiet. My wife and her good friend are attending a funeral. Their long-time mutual friend and fellow artist, who I never met, died suddenly at 62, leaving a husband in chronic ill health.
I first became aware that death - for anyone - is never far away when a ... Views: 1761
Has someone you trust told you a secret about your deceased loved one that has added immeasurably to your grief? Where you going through his/her papers and found some information about the past that has stunned you? Has evidence of physical or emotional infidelity turned up upon reading old ... Views: 1755
While there will be moments where one’s emotional experience reflects reality, there can also be moments when it doesn’t. In this case, it could be said that there is no reason for one to feel the way that they do.
However, even though there will be moments where it isn’t necessary for one ... Views: 1755
Letting Go and Moving On
After experiencing a major loss, it is sometimes difficult to move on with your life. Before you can look ahead to a brighter future, you need to learn to let go of your painful past. The loss can involve a break up with someone you care deeply about, a job ... Views: 1751
There have been several high-profile deaths just this week that have dominated the television news coverage and received a seemingly endless amount of written coverage on the internet and entertainment publications. First, we learned of the passing of Ed McMahon, who is undoubtedly the most ... Views: 1750
Spring was in the air and so was hope. My mother-in-law had been turning darker shades of yellow since December. Now there was reason to believe she would improve: doctors were going to operate. We knew it was a long-shot, but nonetheless, we were hoping to keep our dear friend, mother, and wife ... Views: 1749
If you've got love in your heart, whatever you do from that moment out is likely to be right. If you've got that one true note ringing inside you, then whatever you do is going to be OK. It's love, always love.
- Ken Kesey
On Valentine's Day we focus on ... Views: 1747
Believe in New Beginnings....
When we face a difficult transition or a loss we may think our life is over....that we don't have any hope, or that we don't have options.
My purpose in life is to help people embrace hope and make them believe in new beginnings. Because...this is possible. I ... Views: 1747
In the fall of 1990, I was meeting with two other men on a regular basis to explore our dreams and aspirations. Every two weeks, we would gather at a Chinese buffet and talk for several hours about things we’d like to do some day. It was around the time of the Men’s Movement, where men went ... Views: 1744
A school’s complete body of students will be impacted upon when the sudden death of a student’s parent becomes known.
Come morning, usually, the school’s administration has been notified allowing them to brief their staff before the school’s day starts. The school board’s psychologist will ... Views: 1744
Each day that we awaken is a new day to take our lives forward. It is an opportunity to create something new, something fresh. No matter what you have gone thru, no matter how painful, how heart-wrenching, you don’t have to be in that situation forever. You do not have to be in pain forever. ... Views: 1741
There will come a time when you're ready to move forward after grieving the death of a spouse, to get on with your life and move ahead and discover what this new chapter has to offer. When this happens, you may find it challenging to stop dwelling eternally on what you have lost, and begin to ... Views: 1737
While grief is a universal experience, the mourning process varies from family to family and from culture to culture. What I am referring to as the mourning process are the rituals that most of us grow up with about how to behave and how to speak when confronted with a loss.
In essence, ... Views: 1735
On September 11, 2011, we remember the 10th anniversary of the day when nearly 3,000 victims were killed after two airliners were crashed into the Twin Towers in New York City, another plane hit the Pentagon and a final plane crashed into a field in rural Pennsylvania. This devastating number ... Views: 1735
Navigating the Waters of Grief …
Grieving a loss of any kind can seem as if a storm has ripped away our sail from a well-charted life.
The loss of a loved one, a pet, employment, a lifestyle, physical health, or a way of being can seem as if we were unexpectedly thrown overboard into the ... Views: 1733
Connecting to Nature: Sacred Lessons Learned
“Mom, can you come today? I want to show you the little river Wes and I found yesterday. It’s full of minnows. It’s in that marshy place where they cut down those old trees.”
There were indeed minnows in his new found stream. I returned, on ... Views: 1727
Mothers are normally military minorities. Sure, women in general are gaining more recognition in the military, but surely many people forget that a large majority of these women are mothers as well as national heroes. However, balancing these two identities is hardly ever easy. One military ... Views: 1724
Are you in a state of confusion? Have you made the decision that you will get through this loss? Are you confronting your loss and fears? If not, why not?
Peace of mind is the ultimate goal of good grief so that one can begin the work of reinvesting in a life in the absence of the physical ... Views: 1722
"Grief is healing: To take away our grief is to take away our healing. And learning about life after death helps us heal with greater hope, comfort and peace." ~ Bob Olson
In approximately five years of investigating the possibility of life after death, I have discovered convincing evidence ... Views: 1722
When someone experiences loss, their whole experience of life can change, and when this happens, it is not going to be possible for them to carry on as normal. The thoughts in their mind and the emotions in their body can be different, and the meaning of their life could also have altered.
... Views: 1716
We all have a story to tell that makes us who we are today. We ask people to tell their transformational stories in this magazine; therefore, I am going to share my story here this month. Through this letter to my brother, I will share how our enlightened relationship transformed my ... Views: 1715
"How difficult is grief recovery?" you may ask. As difficult as climbing a mountain perhaps, or crossing a stormy sea? These are events to remember, aren't they? Well, for certain they are. Such events are quite dramatic, as is the case with Grief, which takes us out of ourselves and tosses us ... Views: 1713
Dear Dr. Romance:
My husband and I married more than five years ago, in our early 30s. We had a good marriage. We agreed that if we would sit down and talk things out should we have issues. We always held true to that until his mom died several months ago. He was very close to ... Views: 1712
On Coping with Death…
Death. It hits hard and with a loved one, no matter what the preparation, the loss is heartfelt. Now imagine you are a child.
Coping with the death of a parent in childhood will be different depending on the age of the child and the nature of the relationship.
While all ... Views: 1704
Whether it’s bipolar, depression, dementia or any other horrible mental disease, I don’t believe (at least in my findings) that many families can miss the boat.
Do you remember that new baby doll smell? I smelled it this morning when I was in the shower (A really good time for spirit ... Views: 1704
When one experiences loss, it might be possible for them to carry on with the rest of their life; however, there is also the chance that they won’t be able to do this. In this case, it is could be quiet some time before they are able to do what they used to do before.
What this comes down to ... Views: 1699
Just before Christmas when I was 7 years old my dad died and I experienced a life altering paradigm shift. It was as if the curtains closed at the end of an act on the stage of my life and when they reopened, the scenery had completely changed leaving me feeling unsafe and bewildered. As a ... Views: 1698
My father was diagnosed with cancer in October, 2008. Up to that time he had been very healthy. Normally energetic and active, he fought the cancer with gusto. Still, the cancer won and my father passed away in the early morning hours of on Sunday, March 8th, less than 6 months later. I had ... Views: 1698
Whenever an infant is born into the world of form, it is expected to perform its very first karma or action. That is the action of crying or wailing. If it does not wail, the doctors, parents and friends present get worried; they think something is wrong with the baby. They do everything they ... Views: 1696
Dear Dr. Romance:
What Is The Grieving Process?
What are the stages of the grieving process? How long does it take to go through each stage? Can one stage be relived over and over again? Is there a way to help someone through each stage?
Dear Reader:
If you've had a personal ... Views: 1695
Music During Grief and Loss
Music touches your soul like nothing else. Music during times of sorrow can be especially helpful. Songs can speak to our emotions and give voice to how we feel. The late BB King said, “Even in your darkest moments, music is a rope to grab onto, something to pull ... Views: 1695
No matter where we are from or what has happened to us, each one of us deals with grief throughout our life. There is the grief that comes with the loss of a loved one and there is grief that is a necessary response to what we may carry with us from our childhood. There is also grief as a result ... Views: 1692
You experienced a horrible loss. The grief has nearly destroyed you.
Although you are aware grief has no schedule or timetable, you are a year into your extended mourning session and want it to stop. In fact, you have become nearly paralyzed with sadness and know this can’t go on. What can ... Views: 1691
When my father had to go into hospital for a heart operation in 2011, I dropped him off at the hospital. And although there was a greater risk due to his age, I thought that he would soon be out.
Before he went into hospital, it was clear that he wasn’t in a good way, but as he had been ... Views: 1691
Poverty
Wore goggles, the writer was sitting alone in the dhoti-kurta that suddenly his mind goes towards the poor villages. He is whispering in mind about poverty. What is the poverty?. How does the poverty increase?. How to finish it?. He lost his two hours for it. He comes out of his ... Views: 1683
There are times when one can experience a loss and it won’t have much of an effect on them, and then there are times when this won’t be the case. And what can define how much of an impact a loss has on them can all depend on their level of emotional attachment.
For example, if one had a ... Views: 1679
One characteristic of human societies is that people come together and seek closeness with others in the face of traumatic experiences. "Emotional attachment is probably the primary protection against feelings of helplessness and meaninglessness; it is essential for biological survival in ... Views: 1677
Here I was again. From the time I was nine each time my mom went to the hospital I would wonder "Is this it?". "Will she survive?". My mother is now ninety-two and has been the victim of fifteen strokes, seventeen heart attacks and Parkinsons. She also suffers severe and sudden changes in ... Views: 1675
We cringe as we hear of the latest mass tragedy whether it's another shooting, a hurricane, tornado, fire, or flood. It's just one more horrific event that fills our daily thoughts and hearts. Yet, we never believe that something so awful could ever happen to us or to anyone close to ... Views: 1674
When my client Lorena was going through her divorce, she said she played the piano every night "until there wasn't an ounce left in me." John went out on his boat and listened to Rachmaninoff.
Many of us turn to music when words are not enough, or there are no words. We listen to an opera, or ... Views: 1674
When someone has got something to do, they can get it done straight away or they can put it to one side and do something else. And when it comes to what is the best approach to take, it can all depend on what it is that needs to be done.
If one had a piece of furniture that needed to be ... Views: 1672
There IS light at the end of the tunnel!
Feel like you are suffocating in the darkness of your pain? Don’t think there’s any hope?
When you are in the midst of despair, I want you to know there IS light at the end of your tunnel. You may not think so right now, but it’s there. Many have ... Views: 1665
When I think back to what happened in 2001, I remember that there was a time when I was working out and I ended up finding it hard to breathe. At the time, I just thought that I had a cold coming on.
However, after I went to see the doctor, I came to see that it wasn’t a cold. After I had a ... Views: 1663
I’m standing on a beach surrounded by a vast expanse of dark sand for as far as I can see. Gulls are squawking in the distance. I’m looking into my father’s watery blue eyes. He’s animated and young, explaining something to me with more passion than I ever saw in the last ... Views: 1660
What comes to your mind when you think of the word grief? Most people think of death. Even if you google it, the listings that come up are related to the emotional response that surfaces from the death of a love one. There is very good information and help out there related to that topic. So the ... Views: 1659
What is Grief?
If you are reading this you have probably suffered a loss and experiencing deep sadness as a result of loss. This is grief and emotionally painful but natural and in most cases a healthy response to a loss. Grieving should not be prevented or avoided, rather it should be ... Views: 1658
If one had their eye on a new car and they were to take it for a drive, they are likely to find out that it drives well. Along with how it drives, it is also likely to be a comfortable experience.
So if they are currently driving a car that is on its way out, this experience is going to be ... Views: 1654
I am birthmother to a 41 year old son. Back when I was pregnant with him, mine was a shameful secret, because only “bad girls” got pregnant. I’m happy to say that the world has changed a lot in that respect. Girls who become pregnant today face a very different set of problems than I did. Many ... Views: 1653