Grief Sneaks Up on you...

Grief sneaks into every corner of your life, and sometimes springs up just when you least want it to. It is this surprise factor that is most upsetting – just when you feel like you are getting on top of it, a fleeting image, or overheard song will send you reeling.

Imagine any of the following, which are quite common during grieving, under any other circumstances:

§ A constant fog over your thinking
§ Memory and concentration problems
§ Trouble keeping track of belongings
§ Fatigue, muscle pain, headaches, stomach trouble, chest pain
§ Lack of initiative, inability to perform usual functions
§ Irritability, mood swings, anxiety
§ Fear of performing even familiar activities
§ Feeling hyped up, wired; exaggerated startle response
§ Disorientation
§ Nightmares, trouble falling asleep or staying asleep
§ Unpredictable bouts of crying
§ Avoiding friends and family, hiding out
§ Despair, fears about a desolate future, helplessness
§ Appetite changes
§ Constant yearning, pining for what you have lost
§ Sighing repeatedly
§ Regret, guilt
§ Feeling visited by a lost loved one
§ Change in sexual interest
§ Idealizing or waiting for return of your child

That’s grief for you.

Under any other circumstances, you’d be terrified that you were ill or going crazy.

Grief captures body, mind, emotion, and spirit, and holds them hostage,

lets them go, and then turns around and captures them again...