There are times in life when you go experience multiple things while having to balance several responsibilities at once, especially when you go to school and work at the same time. Losing a loved one can be unfortunate and very expected. It can throw you off and make you lose control over what you have going on. During a tough time, a person needs to know how to balance the grieving process with their school and work responsiblites.
There are different coping mechanisms that can help you with the grief process and your regular everyday life. A main coping mechanism is taking care of yourself while accepting the loss. While taking care of yourself, you should face your feelings. By facing your feelings you’re avoiding the feeling of sadness. Accepting the loss of the loved one will help you prevent yourself from stopping your life and making yourself feel worse. If you don’t properly face your feelings, it can lead to complications such as depression, anxiety, substance abuse, and health problems.
Another way is to express your feelings in a physical or creative way. Writing about your loss in a journal can help you a lot especially if you do not like talking to a therapist. Writing a letter saying the things you never got to say can help you get that heavy weight of your chest and it will help you to not think about what just happened. Being creative with it can also release any negative emotions that are running through your mind. For example, making a scrapbook or photo album celebrating the person’s life can help you understand that they lived a long, full, amazing life.  Physically getting involved in an organization that was important to that person or one that reminded you of your loved one can make you feel better internally.
Finally, to keep your mind off of your loss, maintaining your daily hobbies and interests will help you to keep clear and focused. There’s comfort in routine and getting back to the activities that bring you joy and connect you closer to others can help you come to terms with your loss which will ease the grieving process.
If you or a friend lost a loved one, make sure to grieve accordingly so you don’t get to a dark place. Life is a big up and down roller coaster and unfortunately, we have to go through tough obstacles in life in order to get to the successful part of our lives.
