How to Cope With the Loss of a Loved One During the Holidays

This week, my cousin and I discussed tips about how to deal with the loss of a loved one during the holiday season and beyond. All the tips are shared from our personal experience of navigating the grieving process over the years.

So, how do you deal with the loss of a loved one? What are some coping strategies for dealing with grief?

The first thing is to understand is that everyone grieves differently. There is no one size fits all approach to coping with grief and loss. Understanding the grieving process means acknowledging that everyone has their own journey. Respect your journey and respect your own feelings. It’s okay to not be okay.

Our feelings, however we express them, are always valid.

Coping With Grief and Loss: Three mechanisms that we personally used in coping with grief are...

1. Knowing it’s okay to say no. Don’t feel pressured into bearing yourself to the world if you are still raw in your feelings. Do things at your own pace; just remember it is important to strive for progress. Staying stuck in a negative space is a sign of depression, and can end up making the grief worse.

2. Find a support group once you feel okay to let others in. The best way to handle grief is remembering who you were, and who you want to be, on the other side of the pain. Take all the space you need, but don’t close yourself off from the world.

3. Do something to honor your loved one. The person you loved wouldn’t want you to wallow in misery. Honor them and their memory by celebrating their life in your own way, and living your best life in memory of them.

Although there is no uniform guide to coping with death and grief, we all owe it to ourselves and others to be respectful of the challenges that come with dealing with the pain.

Knowing how to be kind

to yourself

can help you be kind

to others.