Whether it’s a close friend, spouse, partner, parent, child, or other relative, losing a loved one can feel overwhelming and heartbreaking. You may experience waves of intense and very difficult emotions, ranging from profound sadness, emptiness, and despair to shock, numbness, guilt, or regret. You might rage at the circumstances of your loved one’s death—your anger focused on yourself, doctors, or other loved ones. You may even find it difficult to accept that the person is really gone, or struggle to see how you can ever recover and move on from your loss. Can you imagine losing two loved ones in less than a month? A living nightmare! I lost my dear uncle on December 16th, 2022, and my beloved cousin on January 3rd, 2023. My family and I did not have any time to process what was happening but we knew they were in God’s hands. Today I am writing about what losing a loved one has taught me.
It’s dreadfully painful but, there is much to learn from those tough losses. First, it can change the way you live your very life—it might dawn on you that you should live happier, kinder, or more determined. It can also help you to realize that life is short and you must live each moment to its fullest potential. Additionally, grappling with the loss of a loved one can introduce you to new meaningful relationships with people you wouldn’t have met otherwise. Also, it can shine a light on your true strength, on all of your great qualities. And it can take you on a journey for tools that’ll prove to assist you in every single aspect of life.
It’s important to remember that we all grieve in different ways. There’s no single way to react. When you lose someone important in your life, it’s okay to feel how you feel. Some people express their pain by crying, others never shed a tear—but that doesn’t mean they feel the loss any less. Don’t judge yourself, think that you should be behaving in a different way, or try to impose a timetable on your grief. Grieving someone’s death takes time. For some people, that time is measured in weeks or months, for others, it’s in years.
I’m so very sorry for your loss, Nevin. I am praying for you and your family during this difficult time.