This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 28th, 2007 at 10:06 pm and is filed under Positive Psychology Tips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
When I first decided to “do” this blog, I couldn’t decide between Happiness Boot Camp/ or Do Not Grieve Alone. Many thought that Do Not Grieve Alone would be depressing and all about
“just death”. Happiness Boot Camp sounded like a place we would sing “Kumbaya.”
The idea behind this moving from grief comes from positive psychology and the work of members of the helping profession who are aiding people to see strengths, capitalize on those strengths, and work with what you have.
So, grief comes in many forms…it’s about a loss, a change, our world shifts and we need to work to accomodate that change. Just for fun think about your life, what have you lost? What has been a change you have adapted to?
Quitting an addiction, losing or gaining weight, losing a loved one, losing a beloved pet, losing a job, losing a town, losing your “little children” as they become big people, losing your hair, losing your intact family….
Steps to Healing
1. Acknowledge the loss.
2. Reframe the loss: appreciate the benefits that may have come from that loss. Depending on the loss this comes at a much later date.
3. DO NOT ISOLATE find others who are in a similar position be it hospice, weight watchers,
parents without partners AA, Women for Sobriety. Research shows CLEARLY that as Barbra sings “we are people who need people.”
4. Take you time. You have a choice to go at your own pace. “Remember, people may “awfulize” your situation, but since you know your strenghts (VIA SIGNATURE STRENGTHS test on authentichappiness.com) figure out how to use your strengths creatively to cope with loss.
5.Speak the truth about your grief, share with others the way you have found to cope. Sharing benefits us all.
Blog on,
Beth
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