When we were little, we assumed that everyone in our lives would live forever. Well, at least I did. I thought that I would always have my family and friends by my side my whole life. However, after the past two years, I have realized that is definitely not the case.
In my own personal experience, I first lost someone extremely close to me when my older brother committed suicide my sophomore year of high school. Since then, my small community has lost several young people that no one could have imagined living our lives without. I learned how to cope with each death differently, and I have some advice to give to those who have lost someone very dear to their hearts.
Dear Reader,
Let yourself feel the pain you are experiencing.
I know how much you are hurting right now. Your whole world feels like it's caving in around you and that's okay. Honestly. It's too hard to push the pain away and it takes too much of your energy. It is perfectly normal and healthy to allow yourself to grieve over your lost loved one.
Cast your grief on Christ.
Although it is healthy to grieve, it can also consume your life. It took me over a year to realize that I could not physically handle all of my grief by myself. You were never meant to deal with the hurt of life on your own. Christ loves you and died for you so that you could put your hope in Him, so I urge you to do exactly that. There are two Bible verses that really kept me strong during my grieving process: Romans 8:18 and Romans 8:28. Without Christ, I'm not sure if I could have made it through my brother's death.
Keep yourself busy and involved.
It is so easy to drop everything in our lives when we have experienced a death of someone close. A big factor that kept me attentive and kept my mind off of the loss was staying involved in my every day life. I still went to practices and kept up with my friends, because I knew most of my support system would come from those groups. Staying home or isolating yourself from the world can make your pain grow even more and staying busy can help you deal with your pain in a simple way.
I know that it may seem hopeless now, but I promise life will eventually pick up again and you will be able to enjoy the simple pleasures once more. Deal with your grief on your own timeline because no one knows you and your feelings better than yourself. Know that you are loved, and you have support from not only those surrounding you, but from Christ as well.
I wish you all of the love and happiness in this world.
