by Vicki Barbour, Erie Colorado
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« contact Vicki »
Feeling a sense of numbness? Reduced concentration? Disrupted sleep patterns? Changed eating habits? Or a roller coaster of emotional energy? Sometimes hard to put one foot in front of the other?
You are most likely experiencing symptoms of grief. These are all the normal and natural responses to loss caused by the end of or change in familiar patterns of behavior. (www.griefrecoverymethod.com) And whose life has not been upended by the COVID-19 virus – a total change in familiar patterns of behavior?
Have you found yourself over-indulging in stress relievers that may or may not be good for you? They are called STERBS – Short Term Energy Relief Behaviors. They include food, alcohol, exercise, shopping (retail therapy), fantasy. It’s not that these are bad for you, but to recognize that they are only temporary.
However, we can be proactive in how we respond to the situation and upend grief:
G – Global Attunement. Share in the current of LOVE 8 AM CDT or throughout the day.
R – Reflect/Remember. I’m Being having a planetary experience.
I – Intuition. Use your intuition. Reach out and call, text, email or send a card to someone who comes to your mind.
E – Enjoy. Give yourself permission to enjoy that cup of tea, the book you’re reading, time with family.
F – Feelings. Express your feelings. Instead of replying, “I’m fine (Fouled up, Insecure, Neurotic, Emotional),” tell the truth of your feelings. They could be confused, anxious, hopeful, sad, happy, etc. In doing that, it gives others the permission to say what they are feeling instead of stuffing or burying it inside.
Blessings,
Vicki Barbour
Grief Recovery Method Specialist
Thank you, Vicki for your wholesome and most practical perspective in these times. Your words offer a loving embrace while embracing a quickening transformation individually and collectively.
Dear Vicki, It’s so good to be with you as I read your wise words, words that are like a healing by salve. It’s good to be with you in this extraordinary time. Love, Diana
Greetings, Vicki — I very much appreciate your wise and experienced treatment of grief in your article here. And, of particular importance is your attention to the spectrum of emotions that can attend individual and collective grief: — hopelessness, boredom, impatience, pessimism, worry, anger, on and on …
In my semi-pro days of singing and acting, impressed upon me was the cardinal need for acute awareness, open acknowledgement, and subsequent care of the atmosphere and “altitude” of one’s Heart realm when purposefully engaging patterns of emotion. Even more so — when encountering unexpected external intensities and uncertainties well beyond one’s control — pivotal is the maintenance of a personally radiant worldview amidst self-governed thought, emotional self-care, and social discretion that can encompass a wide array of physical factors that might affect our ongoing experience.
Thank you so much, Vicki, for your gracious, practical, and timely support with this important consideration … — PenDell
Thanks Vicky,
much appreciated and will put on my wall – a timely reminder and method to move past the grief.
love,
Cheyne
Beautifully said and practical, Vicki, thank you!
Vicki, It is wonderful to start my day with your post. I felt a sense of peace and smiled in response. Your advice is familiar to me but I had not put together the patterns of my behavior being triggered by the loss of what was once normal being erased by the COVID-19 virus. I am printing out your wise words to use as a daily touch stone and will share with friends.
Thanks you so very much,
Beverly Ahern