Understanding Your Grief Quotes

“[S]ociety often tends to make those of us in grief feel shame and embarrassment about our feelings of grief.

"Shame can be described as feeling that something you are doing is bad. And you may feel that if you mourn, then you should be ashamed. If you are perceived as 'doing well' with your grief, you are considered 'strong' and 'under control.' The message is that the well-controlled person stays rational at all times.

"Combined with this message is another one. Society erroneously implies that if you, as a grieving person, openly express your feelings of grief, you are immature. If your feelings are fairly intense, you may be labeled 'overly-emotional' or 'needy.' If your feelings are extremely intense, you may even be referred to as 'crazy' or a 'pathological mourner.'

"As a professional grief counselor, I assure you that you are not immature, overly-emotional, or crazy.”
― Alan D. Wolfelt, Understanding Your Grief: Ten Essential Touchstones for Finding Hope and Healing Your Heart

“Sorrow is an inseparable dimension of our human experience. We suffer after a loss because we are human. And in our suffering, we are transformed.”
― Alan D. Wolfelt, Understanding Your Grief: Ten Essential Touchstones for Finding Hope and Healing Your Heart

“Your grief needs you right now. And as difficult as it is, you need your grief—because it is now an essential part of your life and who you are.”
― Alan D. Wolfelt, Understanding Your Grief: Ten Essential Touchstones for Finding Hope and Healing Your Heart

“concentrate on doing whatever you need to do to survive, one day at a time.”
― Alan D. Wolfelt, Understanding Your Grief: Ten Essential Touchstones for Finding Hope and Healing Your Heart

“Where you used to be, there is a hole in the world, which I find myself walking around in the daytime, and falling in at night. I miss you like hell.”
― Alan D. Wolfelt, Understanding Your Grief: Ten Essential Touchstones for Finding Hope and Healing Your Heart

“Grief stuns us, and we quickly surrender to isolation, disbelief, and uncertainty. From that moment on, we’re on a search for help to survive and reassurance we’re not crazy.”
― Alan D. Wolfelt, Understanding Your Grief: Ten Essential Touchstones for Finding Hope and Healing Your Heart