“This process helps us become better people”

Grief is one of the hardest things to go through, yet it is unfortunately a part of life that we’ll all eventually experience. After experiencing it recently myself, I do strongly feel as though going through this process helps us become better people. It is a point in our life where we are given the opportunity to take the time to learn a lot about ourselves as well as allowing ourselves to be vulnerable. 

I unfortunately lost two significant loved ones in my life. Both experiences were quite different and while in some aspects they were completely unrelated, in some I found them to overlap. 

The first loved one I lost was my kitten who was about a year and a half old. Although he was only with me a shorter time than expected, he still had a large positive impact on mine and my family’s life by being a great source of comfort. 

The second loved one I unfortunately lost was my grandfather. He made an impact on multiple generations by being a father figure to quite a few people on my father’s side of the family. His strong personality and resilience are things that everyone loved about him and will always remembered. 

It is extremely important to try our best to remember the positive characteristics our significant ones held and hold onto the memories that were created as well as never forget the impact that our loved ones made on so many people’s lives. 

Both losses happened within four months of each other which definitely took a toll on my overall emotional well being. Although I do feel as though each one had its own unique attributes, looking back I can now say that both experiences went hand in hand in the healing process. 

I personally am actively on this journey of healing. I have learned that there should truly never be a limit on time. Everyone is different, and everyone deserves to heal on their own time. Patience is also a key factor in the healing process. Every day will be different; some days will be good and some will not and that’s part of the process. 

We must allow ourselves to be vulnerable and explore our feelings in order to have more of those not so bad days and remind ourselves that these feelings are extremely valid but also not permanent. 

I would be lying if I said that it’s easy to experience grief because it’s truly not easy at all. I do however feel that as time has gone it has definitely gotten easier and I take comfort in the fact that it will continue to as time allows. 

Although it has been a short period of time since this happened I really do feel as though I have grown as a person and learned so much. I would never wish this experience upon anyone, however it is inevitable. So I think that it is extremely important that we are patient with ourselves through this process in order to get the best out of it and allow ourselves the opportunity to grow and heal.