Grief depletes your battery

I picked up my e-reader recently, intending to read a book I had just purchased and downloaded, only to see a notice when I opened it:

Your battery is very low. To continue using the device, please plug into a power source.

So I grabbed the power cord, plugged it in, and a few hours later I was back in business.

 

If only life were that simple.

 

Grief depletes our battery too. 

 

"...Consider this - the shock of grief is real - physically real. When this stress occurs, the hormone cortisol is released by the body. Cortisol is referred to as the “stress hormone”. It ramps up your body for protection – for early man, this was to fight off predators. Now you are fighting the predator of grief. So, your heart rate increases, your blood pressure goes up, your nervous system kicks into high gear. No wonder you feel so bad. If this goes on for a long period, as in prolonged intense grief, your body will start to show the effects – disrupted sleep patterns, poor appetite, irritability, fluctuating blood glucose levels, stress on inner organs and blood vessels, even a weakened immune system." *

 

But we don't get handy warning signs telling us to recharge our body, our mind, our heart.

Instead, we usually plod onward, our physical and emotional reserves getting lower and lower until we start manifesting symptoms of real trouble - heart attacks, GI upset, accidents, poor work performance, relationship issues - the list goes on and on.

What can we do?

First of all, recognize that grief will do this to you. It's not a sign of weakness. Grief is real. Its symptoms are real.

Then, take steps to help yourself.

 

Take a walk.

Exercise.

Meditate.

Join a support group.

Be with friends.

Be alone.

Cry.

Pet your cat.

See a therapist.

 

The point is to do whatever feels good to you so that you can recharge your personal battery. There is no right or wrong answer. And the answer will be different for each one of us because we are all different, experiencing this thing called grief in our own way.

Just recognize that this is happening, and you are not going crazy and it will get better. 

But in the meantime, don't let your battery run all the way down. The more you deplete it, the longer it will take to recharge. 

 

Namaste.

 

Excerpt from I Will Never Leave You; a soul mate’s promise by Joy Collins