“You experience feelings and pain, you’ve never imagined when someone or something is taken away from you, but when you grieve the healthy way, you are able to find new meaning, and eventually move on with your life.”

The death of Kobe Bryant, his daughter, and the other seven passengers aboard the helicopter that crashed was such a tragedy. Death is difficult to deal with in and of itself, but sudden death is another level. Blue Telusma in her article in theGrio, What Kobe Bryant’s death has taught me about how Black men mourn, suggests sudden death leaves you feeling betrayed by time and longing for another chance to experience the moments you took for granted. With sudden death, time doesn’t give you a chance to prepare yourself to never see that loved one ever again. If only you had one more time to hug them, to share your love, make amends, or ask for forgiveness. And so, grief sets in.

Grief is a natural response to a loss. It causes all types of difficult and unexpected emotions such as anger, guilt, regret, and profound sadness. The heavy emotional weight you feel can disrupt your physical health and mental health, if left unchecked. It affects your sleep and appetite and impairs your thinking. These are all normal responses to loss, and the intensity can vary.

There is no right or wrong way to grieve. It’s a personal experience. We all grieve in our own way. There is no set timetable for how long you should grieve. However, it becomes unhealthy and can be life threatening, if you allow yourself to get trapped in the grief. There are healthy ways to deal with the grieving process, and I share with you in this episode a few tips of how to do so.

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Links I mention:

* theGrio – What Kobe Bryan’s death has taught me about how Black men mourn by Blue Telusma* Dr. Christina Hibbert – “This is How We Grow”

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