Taking time to grieve

There is a wealth of information in the book On Grief and Grieving. There are several things that stood out to me including the following:

What is the difference between grief and mourning?
Mourning is the external part of loss. It is the actions we take, the rituals and the customs. Grief is the internal part of loss, how we feel. The internal work of grief is a process, a journey.

If you do not take the time to grieve, you cannot find a future in which loss is remembered and honored without out pain.

Those whom we have loved and who loved us in return will always live on in our hears and minds. As you continue on your journey, know that you are richer and stronger, and that you know yourself better now.

You have transformed and evolved.
You have loved, lost , and survived.
You can find gratitude for the time you and your loved one shared together, as short as that seems to have been. Time helps as you continue healing and live on.

Yours is the grace of life, death, and love.

Grief is the intense emotional response to the pain of a loss. It is the reflection of a connection that has been broken. Most important, grief is an emotional, spiritual, and psychological journey to healing.

There is wonder in the power of grief. We don't appreciate its healing powers, yet they are extraordinary and wondrous. It is just as amazing as the physical healing that occurs after a car accident or major surgery. Grief transforms the broken, wounded soul, a soul that no longer wants to get up in the morning, a soul that can find no reason for living, a soul that has suffered an unbelievable loss.

Grief alone has the power to heal.

The time we take following a loss is important in grief and grieving as well as in healing. This gift of grief represents a completion of a connection we will never forget. A time of reflection, pain, despair, tragedy, hope, readjustment, reinvolvement, and healing.

We are allowing the power of grief and grieving to help us to heal and to live with the one we lost.

That is the Grace of Grief.
That is the Miracle of Grief.
That is the Gift of Grief.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who is anticipating the loss of a loved one or has had a recent loss. It not only gives you permission to grieve it points out the absolute necessity and that we each go about it in our own way.