Q&A series: Is it Okay to Feel Happy?

by Jan McDaniel

Yes! Emotions come to us naturally. We feel how we feel. After great loss, healing moments start almost immediately, but we may only see them later when we look back. Cultivate those bits of light Grief is dark; hope is the way back to life.

It is quite normal to be unsure about such things as laughing with friends or feeling pleasure as the sunshine warms us, but these are not times of disrespect for the ones we lost. These are times of life re-affirming itself, of love reconnecting us with our loved ones in the only way we can now.

It might feel a little strange at first, and talking with a counselor or support group members or friends might help that pass sooner. What has happened has already happened. You are alive and on the journey through the garden of grief. Look for such gifts to renew your strength for the struggles and tears that are like brambles that tear hearts that pass this way. And ask yourself, how would my loved one want me to feel now? Write answers in a journal, and track your progress from day to day.

This is the last in Way for Hope's series of Questions and Answers about surviving deep grief (for now). A baker's dozen. Look for a compilation of these coming this spring on the site, but you don't have to wait. If you missed any of the thirteen, scroll back through the blog posts to read more.

Blessings,
​Jan