Coping With Death

The loss of a loved one is often the greatest pain an individual can bear. Understandably, a lot of people do have trouble finding a way to cope. Everyone deals with death differently, but there are certain things we can do to make the burden a little bit easier. Firstly, you have to face it instead of running away from it. Death is a fact, come to terms with that before anything else.

You may not have even lost a loved one yet, but you can always learn to cope without experiencing it. Maybe you know someone who is terminally ill and want to prepare yourself. It is always a good time to start coping with death. Look upon it as a fact of life. Everybody who has reached adulthood is likely to lose someone else before they meet their maker.

Temporary losses provide a good starting point for coping with death, even though somebody does not actually die. Temporary losses occur every day. Someone you are close to may move away, somebody goes travelling, you have to give a pet away… the list is endless. Temporary losses are extremely common but they are not irrelevant and should not be dismissed as so. Nor should the person who finds one of them hard to deal with be ridiculed. Losses of any kind are difficult and people react differently, as with death. If you learn how to heal a common loss, then you may find it easier to cope with death.

A temporary loss can be used to access and learn something about your self. It is not so common to lean on another when your experience an everyday loss but leaning on someone following a death can prevent that person coping too. If you learn how to heal your self on your own, it is a first step towards coping.

A loved one going elsewhere can lead to grief and the feeling of loss because of how they made you feel, the way you saw them, the way you felt about them. This is completely normal but if you are missing your self, if you do not know how to access it, then the grief is likely to eat you up. The first few days after someone has moved are always hard, but if you are in touch with your self it may be easier to cope with.

Practicing with everyday losses may seem stupid to some but death can strike any time, any place. By getting yourself used to losses, you are preparing yourself for the inevitable.

Any pangs of loss can be tapped into. For example, a family member goes on holiday. Channel it into your feelings and note how you cope. This may sound ridiculous because in no way is it similar to death. You will see the holidaymakers again. However, you can use it to develop skills that you will need when someone does die. Use your everyday life and routine to teach yourself the meaning of loss and it will become a lot easier in the long term

Death is inevitable, but instead of dismissing it and dealing with it as and when it happens, start to deal with it now. It will make coping easier when the time comes.