Understanding the Different Stages of Grief
“In this world, you will have trouble.” These words of Jesus ring true and line up with our life experiences. In no place do those words resonate more than when we encounter and experience loss and grief in our lives. Those losses occur in different ways, and we feel and deal with them each in our own way. The loss of a loved one is an experience that shakes the foundations of our world. What was once “the way life is” is irrevocably changed either in an instant or through the slow months as our loved one’s illness progresses and their health deteriorates. It is natural in this situation of loss and grief to ask questions, to cry, to be angry, to feel numb, or to feel a jumble of emotions in a flurry of thoughts. Grieving comes to all of us at one time or another on our sojourn in this world. Indeed, in this world, we do have trouble. Though all of us will grieve at some point in our lives, that will look different for everyone. Grief is a complex process in which at times you may not fully understand what you are feeling, or you may struggle trying to make sense of your own thoughts as you try to put the pieces of your life back together again after your loss. The emotional, mental, and spiritual burden that comes with grief can be difficult to bear. While everyone grieves and works through loss in their own way, there are general stages of grief that most people go through, though they won’t all go through them in the same order or in the same way. One way to delineate these stages or phases of grief comes from Elisabeth Kubler-Ross. Though not rules, they are a way [...]
