In my previous article “(1) How Feelings and Emotions affect YOUR SCORE SHEET!” I ended with “…but this is only the beginning”. What I did not say was the degree of the work needed for some individuals to heal from loss experiences. I will say this now and have said it many times, “Grief is work.” If you are prepared to look deeper into yourself please continue.
Continuing with how feelings and emotions affect you I want you to consider several of the emotional and feeling words associated with grief and loss concerns; anxiety, broken heart, hate, crying, overwhelmed, injustice, thoughts of suicide, frustration, guilt, regret, loneliness, fear, pain, anger, emptiness, confusion, deserted, abandoned, and for now I will end with missing. Can you relate to any of these words? What would your negative number score be if you had several of these words on your list? Acknowledging the list exists is a step in the positive direction of the healing process.
As healing progresses with the grief and loss process, emotions gradually begin to change for many people. Over time, which is different for everyone and in some cases never happens; individuals begin to find their positive list of words for emotions and feelings.
When attention and intention is focused on positives such as confidence, joy, inner strength, tenacity, acceptance, being proud, less sad, faith, love, calmness, decisiveness, trust, moving forward, believing, direction, at peace, capable, and contentment to name a few begins to change the way you are.
Realizing change takes time, work and may come with a life dance of happy and sad that eventually has more happiness. Remember to look at your positive and negative scores as you move through your day and life. You are in control if you choose to be.