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Mar 14, 2022 Reporting from Niles, MI
Mar 14, 2022
Mar 14, 2022
Climbing a mountain of grief
SpectrumHealth Lakeland
Climbing a mountain of grief
SpectrumHealth Lakeland
https://www.spectrumhealthlakeland.org/ResourcePackages/SpectrumHealth/assets/img/sh_white_logo.png
Climbing mountains is not a simple undertaking. It takes time, patience, strength and a great deal of tolerance for the possibility of error. The movements that result in the climb must be done with so much precision that only someone at once daring and calculating would be able to scale the mountain. Perhaps this is why mountaintop experiences are so rare in our society. It often takes a lifetime’s worth of training to have one, and most people’s lives are not characterized by the kind of danger faced by a typical mountain climber.
A loved one’s death presents survivors with challenges at least as great as learning to scale a mountain.
Embracing a new life after the death of our loved ones takes years of time and patience, and much like scaling a vertical mountain face, it is ridden with many dangers and potential missteps. As we climb upward and onward, trauma, sleeplessness, numbness, anxiety, communication problems, anger, etc.–all of these and more often coincide with grief. Such experiences can discourage us from continuing to climb up our mountain of grief. The good news is that these feelings are not the only one’s people in grief experience. Mourners almost always have the option to remember the happiness, pride and love associated with our loved one’s life, not only the pain of their death.
To those who are experiencing grief in the aftermath of a person’s death, we at Lory’s Place implore you to do something very simple: “Keep climbing.” If you are not sure what path to take, then “keep climbing.” And even if you are frightened, weak and worn… “keep climbing!” Aim for the mountaintop. Mountaintop experiences are those moments when we can pause as mourners and look at how far we’ve come before deciding to keep on climbing. For some of us, the mountaintop occurs quickly, within a few months. For others, the climb itself will last a lifetime. But regardless, each mourner in their own way will need to climb, step by step, crevice by crevice, across many dangers, small and large, on their new life journey. This is no less true for grief and mourning than it is for climbing Mount Everest.
Climbing a mountain of grief
by
Lory's Place
|
Mar 14, 2022
Climbing mountains is not a simple undertaking. It takes time, patience, strength and a great deal of tolerance for the possibility of error. The movements that result in the climb must be done with so much precision that only someone at once daring and calculating would be able to scale the mountain. Perhaps this is why mountaintop experiences are so rare in our society. It often takes a lifetime’s worth of training to have one, and most people’s lives are not characterized by the kind of danger faced by a typical mountain climber.
A loved one’s death presents survivors with challenges at least as great as learning to scale a mountain.
Embracing a new life after the death of our loved ones takes years of time and patience, and much like scaling a vertical mountain face, it is ridden with many dangers and potential missteps. As we climb upward and onward, trauma, sleeplessness, numbness, anxiety, communication problems, anger, etc.–all of these and more often coincide with grief. Such experiences can discourage us from continuing to climb up our mountain of grief. The good news is that these feelings are not the only one’s people in grief experience. Mourners almost always have the option to remember the happiness, pride and love associated with our loved one’s life, not only the pain of their death.
To those who are experiencing grief in the aftermath of a person’s death, we at Lory’s Place implore you to do something very simple: “Keep climbing.” If you are not sure what path to take, then “keep climbing.” And even if you are frightened, weak and worn… “keep climbing!” Aim for the mountaintop. Mountaintop experiences are those moments when we can pause as mourners and look at how far we’ve come before deciding to keep on climbing. For some of us, the mountaintop occurs quickly, within a few months. For others, the climb itself will last a lifetime. But regardless, each mourner in their own way will need to climb, step by step, crevice by crevice, across many dangers, small and large, on their new life journey. This is no less true for grief and mourning than it is for climbing Mount Everest.