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It took me nine years to face my grief

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scared as hellIt took me NINE years to reach that point of exhaustion where I just said to myself “I really, really, really need to get help to finally let go of the all the pain and drama in my life”. By that time I had lost my dad, moved abroad and lost my first born daughter (in that exact order).

What would happen if I finally took charge of my emotional system? What would need to change? Who or what would I have to let go of in my life? What patterns, behaviours and thoughts would I have to change? What would I have to start doing or who would I have to start being if I got well, finally felt unstuck, started to live my purpose, quit that awful, life draining job? Who would I have to become if I let go of all the drama that defines me?

That’s a lot of scary stuff… I know, that’s why I waited for so long. But I refused to define myself as the bereaved mother, stuck in pain, guilt and sadness forever and ever. There had to be another way!

Only you will know when you have reached that crucial point when changing how you define yourself and your pain and drama is the only sustainable thing you can do in order to move forward. Why don’t you grab the opportunity and start getting clear for the new year NOW by redefining how you want to show up in the world? How you want to feel? What you want to contribute to?

There are a million-and-one techniques out there, I’m teaching ONE of them, but I encourage you to go out and investigate which one rings true to you. Only you know whats best for you.

Talking to children about loss

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Simple DO’s and DON’Ts:

  • DO – Go first. As the adult, you are the leader. 
  • DO – Tell the truth about how you feel. – Telling the truth about your own grief and about how you feel will establish a tone of trust and make your child feel safe in opening up about his or her own feelings.
  • DO – Recognise that grief is emotional, not intellectual and that sad or scared feelings are normal. Avoid the trap of asking your child what is wrong, for he or she will automatically say “Nothing”.
  • DO – Listen with you heart, not your head. Allow all emotions to be expressed without judgement, criticism, or analysis.
  • DO – Remember that each child is unique and has a unique relationship to the loss.
  • DO – Be patient. Don’t force your child to talk. Give your child time. Make sure to plant healthy ideas about talking about feelings.

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  • DON’T – Say “Don’t feel scared”. Fear is a common and normal response.
  • DON’T – Say “Don’t feel sad”. Sadness is a healthy and normal reaction. Sadness and fear, the most common feelings attached to loss of any kind, are essential to being human.
  • DON’T – Ask your children how they are feeling. Like adults, fearful of being judged, they will automatically say, “I’m fine”, even though they are not.
  • DON’T – Act strong for your children. They will interpret your “non-feeling” as something they are supposed to copy.
  •  DON’T – Compare their lives or situations to others in the world. Comparison always minimizes feelings.
  • DON’T – Make promises that you cannot keep. Instead of saying “Everything’s going to be okay”, say, “We’ll do everything we can to be safe”.
  • DON’T – Forget that your children are very smart. Treat them and their feelings with respect and dignity as you would like to be treated by others.

 

I’m a proud Momtrepreneur!

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Hi all, I do write a lot about my work but I just heard this lovely term, Momtrepreneur, the other day and I just felt compelled to write about it!

So how does a Momtrepreneur “work”day look like?

07:00-08:00 Make sure that the kids wake up, have breakfast, brushing teeth (with a lot of threatening about  the trolls eating your teeth if you don’t…), get dressed (hopefully shoes on the right foot, sort of matching clothes, and hopefully finding all the out door gear you need to wear this time of year) – and BREATHE!

Photo taken by Elin, 4 years old08:00 Start the little trip up to Kindergarten, there are a lot of secret paths, leaves, cats, friends and other fun things to stop and look at on the way. Sometimes carrying a kid (15 kg) on one arm and extra gear, bags and a bicycle on the other…

09:00 Get the house back in order, start some washing, check if we have food (if not, too bad!), and get in the car to drive off to my Grief Recovery client. Fist making sure that all is packed, printed and in order 🙂

10:00-11:00 Grief Recovery work! LOVE IT LOVE IT LOVE IT!!

11-12 Dash back home, start lunch, close the computer and end the Grief Recovery work day. Did I accomplish all I needed to have done without having kids in the house… Most of the time the answer is NO! (no, really?!)

12:00 Kindergarten finishes, run up to Kindergarten, just sliding in to the yard as they open the door and the kids are pouring out!  Pick up my daughter <3

12:15 -> Cook, eat, draw, bake, organise play dates…. So that’s how it looks like!

Lunch time!

I’m sure I’m going to look back at this time and as my “younger self”what I was thinking, starting up a business with two small kids! But it also shows that if you have found your passion, which I have in case you haven’t figured that one out yet ( 😉 , you just find the time to get it all done!

And my secret weapon (yes, I admit):

My next step, a certification course at the Grief Recovery Institute in Stockholm

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So I’ve had a couple of moths asking myself over and over again “How may I serve?”, and as soon as I gave in and said to myself that I can’t be doing less than offer help and support to other human beings suffering from unresolved grief things started to shift in a BIG way! People, books, videos and ideas literally started dropping at my feet as if the Universe tried to get me to understand that I had found my path.

So later this month (September 2012) I will go to Stockholm and attend a certification course on how to assist others through grieving processes. I’m so excited and happy to have taken this step, even if it’s scaring the crap out of me at the same time. This means that I have to work though my own unresolved grief before I can help others which is a daunting thought, so wish me luck!!

Much love, Karin