Managing Grief With a Story

Following is a story that makes a comparison between the stages of grief and our journey. It goes something like this.

Reflect on the pioneers who traversed America.

They left the cities, taking many of their treasured possessions with them on the wagons. They were in high spirits.

However, before long they were in a state of shock. They realised the problems associated with their commitment and the fact there could be no turning back.

A denial period set in; they buried their heads in the sand and didn’t face their problems.

When they could not ignore the reality of the situation they began to negotiate.

They realised that they would have more hope of survival if they dumped some of their treasures. They littered the roads with beautiful furniture and household goods. Although they were saddened by the beautiful things they lost they acknowledged that by dropping things they did not need for the journey gave them a better chance of survival.

At this point they have faced reality.

They grieve for what they have lost but they resign themselves to the situation.

After resignation comes acceptance and now energy is released to continue on the journey.

In a similar way we can re-evaluate our lives and drop some of the possessions, beliefs and values that hold us back from giving us the best chance of survival.

Photo Credit:  Joshua Blake