Early on I learned there are stages of grief that we may go through before we reach the point of feeling true peace and comfort. I'm always revisiting those stages to determine where am I , and if I am on a journey or a trek with this complex emotion called grief? "Wikidiff.com" explains the difference between journey and trek this way, "journey is a set amount of travelling, seen as a single unit; a discrete trip, a voyage while trek is a slow or difficult journey". So, I've determined for myself anyway, that I am definitely on a grief trek! Now, there are different perspectives on stages of grief. One such view is there are 4 stages of grief. 1. Accepting the loss. 2. Experiencing the pain. 3. Adjusting to life without him or her. 4. Investing your emotions in someone or something else. Another view conforms to the idea of there being 5 stages. 1. Denial. 2. Anger 3. Bargaining 4. Depression 5. Acceptance. We may not move through these stages in the chronological order they are laid out here, and that's perfectly okay. Our experiences are totally personal and unique to our relationship with the person we are grieving. Both views imply the stages are "action-oriented" I believe this, because as we travel through our grief, we are feeling, praying, crying, thinking, and acting in ways that may demonstrate what stage we may be in and where we currently are in our journey along this trek called grief. We may even fluctuate back and forth between any of the stages, and that's okay too! I believe I'm probably vacillating between Accepting the loss and Experiencing the pain. I've been told that visiting Mike's grave or talking to friends about him can help me accept my loss (so this is where this blog can be helpful to me and you). As far as experiencing the pain, well that is something we all have to go through on our own, I'm still crying everyday and missing him more and more as the days go on. This blog can't help me with that, but it can help me in accepting my loss and finding comfort through this forum of sharing and supporting each other along the way.
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