How Showing Gratitude Can Support The Grief Journey

Introduction

Being grateful can help us navigate tough times like grief. Research shows that it can also boost our physical health by strengthening our immune system, allowing us to sleep better, lowering our stress levels, and even reducing our blood pressure.

When we focus on the positive and practice gratitude, we become more resilient in facing challenges. It's okay to acknowledge when things are hard and allow ourselves to feel our emotions.

By practising gratitude, we can also lessen feelings of depression, anxiety, and stress and start seeing things more positively. Grateful people bounce back better from challenging situations and generally feel happier.

Finding moments of joy, even amid tragedy, can change our outlook and give us hope. Being grateful can also make us more empathetic and compassionate and boost our self-esteem and self-worth.

It is not happiness that brings us gratitude. It is gratitude that brings us happiness.

Here's how gratitude intersects with the grief journey:

Finding Meaning

Grief can disrupt your sense of purpose and meaning, but gratitude can help. Gratitude enriches their memory by focusing on the positive aspects of your relationship with your loved one and the experiences you share.

Take a moment to reflect on what you're grateful for in those cherished memories. This practice can bring you peace and help you feel closer to them.

Remembering the good times and their impact on your life can offer strength when things get difficult. Embracing gratitude allows you to hold onto the moments you shared, deepening the bond you had and providing comfort in their absence.

Growing Resilience

Remembering to show gratitude during tough times is crucial, as it can help build our resilience and inner strength.

Even when things feel tough, finding little moments of happiness or peace can be like a beacon in the storm of emotions. Embracing these moments can give us the strength to navigate through the ups and downs more easily and calmly, helping us weather any challenges that come our way.

Look for the glimmers!

Shifting Perspective

Embracing gratitude is a powerful practice that helps us see things from a fresh perspective. While it doesn’t erase the sorrow of losing someone, it allows us to recognise the abundance of positive aspects that remain.

Instead of focusing solely on what we’ve lost, gratitude encourages us to cherish the memories, wisdom, and impact our loved one brought into our lives.

Coping Mechanism

Gratitude is like a warm hug during tough times. When you're feeling overwhelmed with sadness or grief, try to shift your focus to the little things you're grateful for. It can bring some comfort and peace amidst all the emotions.

Recognising and being thankful for these small blessings can give you a break from sadness, let a little light peek through the darkness, and provide you with hope in despair.

Connection and Support

When going through tough times, it's vital to recognise and be thankful for all the love and support we get from our friends, family, and even people we don't know.

Showing gratitude makes us feel closer to others, helps us build stronger bonds, and reminds us that we're not going through this alone.

Remembering with Gratitude

Reflecting on the good times we shared with our loved ones can be a beautiful way to honour their memory. Instead of dwelling on their absence, let's focus on the happy moments, the lessons learned, and the love we felt. This will help keep their spirit alive in a meaningful and lasting way.

Embracing Growth

Gratitude can be a powerful tool for seeing the silver linings in our grief journey. It encourages us to pause, reflect, and better understand ourselves and our connections with others.

By nurturing a sense of gratitude, we can cherish the small moments of joy that shine through the sadness of loss, giving us the strength and resilience to move forward.

It's important to remember that integrating gratitude into our grieving process doesn't mean ignoring or suppressing our emotions. It's about accepting the ups and downs of grief and allowing gratitude to coexist with our pain, providing moments of comfort and optimism in our sorrow.

By acknowledging our emotions and finding gratitude amid our grief, we can walk through the healing journey with a sense of balance and peace.

Hey There

Amid grief, manifesting gratitude can be challenging. Instead, let's focus on your accomplishments and victories—what are three things you've done today or this week that deserve a pat on the back from yourself?

Maybe you got out of bed or took a shower? Any little thing you achieve in the early stages of loss should be celebrated. Acknowledging even the tiniest steps you take towards healing and self-care is crucial.

If your grief has led you to dive headfirst into organising, paperwork, and getting everything in order, remember to pause and appreciate all that you're getting done. Don't forget to give yourself credit for your progress, no matter how small it may seem.

Examples of things I am grateful for:

I discovered gratitude in my second year of grief. It seems like such a simple thing, but it helped. Waking up in the morning and being grateful for the bed I slept in, the breath in my body, and the roof over my head—things we all take for granted suddenly seemed like a gift.

• I am grateful for all the communities available to us in our grief tonight. That there is a place to share and connect with others. Good people, sunshine after a dingy rainy day and daffodils just peeking out in early spring.

• A better night’s sleep, little by little, day by day.

• Early morning check-in messages from my close friends to wake up to

• My morning meditation practice.

• Today, I am grateful to sit in a coffee shop with my journal and a cuppa while watching the world go by. I love having time to catch up on my thoughts.

• I am also grateful that I can afford to buy a cuppa and for my car, which got me here.

• I am grateful to my friends who rescued me from a plumbing disaster today. My garden tap snapped off, and water was going everywhere. I didn’t even know how to turn it off; water is expensive here. Friends rallied around and fixed it for me. I now know where to turn the water off if needed.

• Feeling I’m in a better place mentally than I was a year ago.

• A warm bed.

• My family has offered me so much support over the past two years.

• I am grateful I have a job that frees my mind from overthinking for part of the day.

• Grateful for lovely siblings and friends.

• Grateful for my widow sisters.

  The concept of gratitude in grief inspired me so much that I created a guided gratitude journal. It is full of prompts to guide you through journaling gratitude, affirmations, inspirational quotes, and more.

I wish you love and courage as you continue your grief journey and hope that I can inspire you to keep going on this path that we did not choose. But we're on it now, and we can choose to thrive.