HOW DO I KNOW IF I’M GRIEVING?

Grief can manifest in a plethora of ways and on its own timeline. It might not be what typically comes to mind when you think of the grieving process. You may have heard of the stages of grief or maybe you have no clue what grief will look like. Most likely, when you’re grieving, you’ll know. Life will be different or even abnormal in some fashion. We strive to help you regain some hope during your grieving period, but we must first acknowledge our grief.

What Are Some Symptoms Of Grief?

Grief is a journey and not everyone’s journey will look or feel the same. Some may not even realize they’re grieving, whether actively or inactively. Some may be in denial that they even need to grieve, thus pushing their grief into a box and forgetting about it.

Unfortunately, bottling our emotions up is not ultimately an effective method of coping long-term. To the best of our abilities, we will list some common symptoms of grief to help you decipher this confusing time.

  • Irritability
  • Numbness/ Detachment
  • Bitterness
  • Inability to show or feel joy
  • A deep sadness
  • Thinking only of the loss of your loved one.
  • Fatigue
  • Lack of motivation
  • Sleeping significantly more or less than normal

Many of these symptoms also appear in cases of depression. If your mental state doesn’t start to heal after a few months, normal grief care may not be sufficient and you might want to consider a Christian based counseling session.

What If I Don’t Acknowledge My Grief?

As much as I’d love to tell you that hope beyond grief is possible without ever having to put in the tough work of acknowledging and processing your emotions, it isn’t. Grief isn’t always an active process or a short one. So, when you don’t even acknowledge the emotions you feel when a loved one passes, you prolong the process even further.

We often find that men can have a difficult time with this due to the societal pressures put upon them to “man up” and never show their emotions. Men, look no further than what the Father has shown us to be our example.

John 11:35 tells us simply, “Jesus wept”.

Jesus, Lord of all creation wept at the passing of his friend. Despite knowing his fate, God, in His corporeal form, still shed a tear for this loss. I would argue that he shows strength in acknowledging and processing His emotions and not feeling ashamed of them.

If you are having troubles processing your grief, or would generally like guidance around the grieving process, look into our grief care courses today for your church!