WAYS TO ADJUST TO LIFE’S LOSSES AND HARDSHIPS
by Contributor
(Dec. 13, 2019) — Dealing with major losses and painful hardships builds resilience in many ways. Learn how to handle your major life losses gracefully with these tips.
Unless you need to file a personal injury claim in Townsville, for example, you might find yourself afloat and silently suffering. After the niceties and the traditions of loss have been set, the painful part of moving on begins.
Here are some ways you can get through your present loss and hardships.
Meditate
Martha Whitmore Hickman curates daily meditations for loss in her book,Healing After Loss: Daily Meditations for Working through Grief. Meditation is a sound way to pass the hours after the passing away of your loved one. It’s a challenging process that will take months or years. The meditation suggestions will help you with the process of grief without shoving it under the rug or overpowering your daily life with pain.
Focus on a New Hobby
If there is anything that loss teaches you well, it’s that nothing lasts forever. Seizing the moment and living each day meaningfully can mean engaging in a new hobby. This new hobby may take your life in a different direction or add meaning to your suffering.
Stock Up Your Bookshelves
Books about loss have been written before. Some examples of these are C.S. Lewis’s A Grief Observed, Randy Pausch’s The Last Lecture, and Mitch Albom’s books. They serve to inspire people whose loved ones are in the afterlife. For resilience and management of post-traumatic stress disorder, books written by NAVY Seals are useful and inspiring. Now may be a time to derive wisdom from pages of books that cater to your topic of loss.
Connect to People
This step may sound counter-intuitive, but it helps to talk to people or connect with them. You don’t have to talk about your problems. Sometimes it can be as simple as watching a basketball game together or catching the latest movies in the cinema. Don’t feel pressured to talk about heavy topics. Try to hang out with people you feel comfortable with, and this will remind you that there is life after your present state of loss and pain.
Be Gentle with Yourself
You might not be at your A-game yet and miss things you have control over. You might forget dates or events and might not have a 200% performance at work. Be gentle with yourself. Forgive yourself for things you cannot do and strive to do things better again one day at a time.
Entertain Yourself
Have some time for Netflix or anything that can take your mind off things. But remember not to overdo it, especially if it’s related to alcohol or drugs.
Celebrate Small Wins
Making the bed, taking a shower daily, or eating three square meals per day may not seem like an incredible achievement. But in the face of loss and pain, it’s an incredible step to try to live normally again after your whole world has fallen apart. Celebrate these small wins. Try your best not to overload yourself.
Take these things one step a day at a time. Over the coming days, you will find the burden getting lighter and yourself becoming stronger. Tough times never last, but tough people do. You are strong and can make it.