Bereavement over the death of a loved one is not the only application of the Healthy Grieving process. To view a list of the many ways you can use the process to let go of the pain of a loss, click here www.grieffree.org/healthy-grieving/applications/.
One interesting example of grieving a loss other than a death was shared by a recent workshop participant who used the process to grieve the loss of a beloved house she had to leave behind when she moved out of state. Here is her story:
“I used the Healthy Grieving process to let go of an attachment to a house I had moved away from years ago. I didn’t realize I was still holding on, but when I saw ‘loss of a home” on the list of possible applications for the Healthy Grieving process, it kind of jumped out at me and I knew immediately that it was something I needed to look at.
We have been living in our new state for many years, renting year after year, and telling ourselves it was because we couldn’t afford to buy a home here. But finances turned out not to be the real issue. When I took myself through the Healthy Grieving process the weekend after the workshop, I discovered that beneath the story of the beloved house that I had left behind was a belief that that house was as good as it could —or would –ever get for me. The underlying issue wasn’t grief over the loss of the “perfect house;” it was a limitation on what I believed was possible for me and my life.
I know the Healthy Grieving process really works because within a week of completing the worksheet and letting go of the loss I’d been holding onto, my husband and I were out looking at houses, finding many in our price range, and within a month, we were making offers.”
Two months after this workshop participant shared her experience, we received this update from her . . .
“I am writing this from my new home! How about that?! Three months to manifestation of a dream I have had for seven years! I give credit to the GriefFree process . . . I didn’t even realize how unhealthy grief was holding me back.”
This is a great example of the way the Healthy Grieving process can free us and allow us to move on from something that has been holding us back in our life . . . which we may not have even been aware of.