Losing a friend or a family member is the most difficult challenge that anyone can face. Although it is a natural part of life and we cannot avoid it, no matter how much we want to, it still comes as a complete shock and overwhelms us to such an unimaginable extent that it may seem entirely unbearable.

Many people consider death as such – unbearable and impossible to cope with, but we cannot deny the fact that it is inevitable and that, one day, we will lose someone close to us that we couldn’t have ever imagined living without. When death comes knocking on the door, what can you do to cope with the loss of a loved one and not drown in grief?

Use the Power of Creativity

Expressing your feelings can help you effectively deal with grief and move on with your life. Moving on doesn’t mean that you no longer miss the person who died or that you somehow betraied them by putting together the shattered pieces of your emotions. Moving on with your life means that you have come to terms with the loss and accepted the cruel ways of death.

Before you can arrive at the fifth stage of grief that is acceptance, you need to go through the grieving process, and immersing yourself in the powerful world of creativity is the best step you can take. Creativity will help you take care of yourself and wriggle out of the claws of grief and depression.

Turn your feelings into ink on a paper by writing a journal that will serve as your daily emotion outlet or write a letter saying everything you wish you had said to your beloved decedent. Make a scrapbook of photos and memories with the deceased loved one that will be an everlasting reminder of all the special moments that you spent together.

Everything you create to celebrate their life is artwork that will help you go through your grief, so you can do pretty much anything that will help you express your feelings and feel better. There are jewellers who make memorial diamonds from human ashes and hair, so you can think about preserving the legacy and memory of your loved one through that kind of art.

It will further lift the fog of your sadness and, over time, it will put a smile on your face every time you look at it, because you will remember your moments together and realize how lucky you were to have had that person in your life.

Take Care of Yourself

Taking care of yourself can be extremely beneficial to you, because when you treat your body with real care and, thus, feel better physically, your emotional health will considerably improve and you will be able to get through each day feeling less helpless and sad. The stress of losing a loved one can be very damaging to your overall health and, no matter how painful the entire situation is, you need to try and fight the stress and sadness you are feeling in order to move forward with your life and find a sense of meaning.

Start eating right and get enough shut eye, because that will stimulate your healing process by making you feel better first physically, and then mentally. You can try exercising, spending time in nature or immersing yourself in any activity that will lift your mood, even just for a moment.

Spend time with family and friends, because there’s literally nothing more healing than that. Over time, you won’t even realize when you had gotten past all the pain that kept you from moving forward. Remember, the key is to look after yourself and deal with your grief in your own way.

Give Yourself Time to Heal

The terrible grief of losing someone close to you is certainly not something that can disappear overnight. Healing takes time, so make sure you give yourself time to cope with the loss and deal with all the emotions that may seem to irrevocably take you down. When you give yourself enough time to heal, you will, without a doubt, find your way to get back on track and start enjoying life once again, without feeling guilty.

If you try and suppress your grief in order to be able to move on faster, you can be sure that it will come back, only to make you feel a hundred times worse than before. Don’t avoid it, but acknowledge it and let yourself feel it to the bone. Only then will you manage to resolve it and get over it, thus becoming ready to live your life to the fullest, as you are supposed to.

Grieving and mourning the loss of a loved one is, without question, the hardest time that each and every one of us has to face at some point in our lives, but learning how to cope with it is what helps us get through and lead our lives walking a peaceful and meaningful path.