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Schedule a Grief Break
Written by Clara Hinton | Oct 25, 2001
In the busyness of living, we often find it necessary to schedule a break away from the regular routine of everyday life. The time spent relaxing is both refreshing and replenishing. Tense muscles unwind, and a tired, weary body feels restored and ready to get back to work again. A brief break away is good for the body, mind, and soul!
It is necessary to take some scheduled time away from grief, too. Grieving is hard work. Grieving the loss of a child is the hardest work you will ever do. Grief from child loss will put a strain on your marriage. You will suffer sadness and loneliness as a family. You will feel isolated in your friendships. Even holiday times will not bring the level of enjoyment you previously experienced. A grief break can give you the fresh reserve of energy you need to move forward in the very difficult work of suffering the loss of a child.
What is a grief break? A grief break is simply some planned “time out”. A grief break is actually scheduled time to do something other than grieve.
You might be thinking that taking a grief break is an impossible task. There is no way that you can stop the tears from flowing, shelve your feelings of deep, inconsolable grief, and plan time away to have some fun. Actually, taking a grief break is very easy to do, and it is necessary to your health and the well being of your family.
Every individual knows when that feeling of overload is about to happen. It is no different in the area of grief. When you see that you are sliding back in your deep feelings of sadness, loneliness, anger, and pain, that is a good indication that you need a grief break—time away to replenish yourself and your family.
An hour away from the house spent walking through a park makes a wonderful grief break. Going out to eat puts some flavor back into your food. Going to a movie theater is so much better than sitting at home watching a video. Home holds all of the memories of your child, and the purpose of a grief break is to give yourself some much needed pain relief by scheduling some time away.
Skip pebbles across the lake and watch the rippling, blue water with your living children. They need to see you embrace the simplicity of life and smile again! Go to a shopping mall and get lost in the crowd. Sometimes it’s good to blend in with other people. Grieving the death of your child makes you feel so different!
Visit a museum, or buy tickets to a play. Force yourself to do something that is fun. Even if you end up not enjoying yourself, you’ve still accomplished the task at hand. You’ve taken a necessary grief break, and have allowed yourself to be replenished.
A grief break, no matter how brief, will help you to momentarily feel normal again, and that is vitally important. When your grief break is over, you will have new strength and a new perspective, allowing you to continue the hard work at hand—grieving the loss of your precious child. A grief break is not selfish; it is something necessary to keep your family together!
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