When our children were growing up sometimes they would come to me or their father with tears in their eyes. We could tell something was wrong. One look at them and we would ask, “Where does it hurt?” Sometimes they had words to describe where their pain was and sometimes, like most children, they didn’t have the words to let us know in detail. It was our job as the adult with a greater vocabulary to locate their hurt and address it.
Grief can be a lot like that. We know it hurts but we can’t always communicate where the pain is or let somebody know (exactly) what we’re feeling.
Even when you don’t have the words to say, “it hurts in my heart.” or “It hurts in my chest or stomach” or, “It hurts all over.” It’s okay for you to know your pain is real—not your imagination—and you won’t always hurt as badly as you do right now.
An Exercise to Try:
One great exercise when you’re feeling grief-pain is to breathe through it. When we’re grieving, we tend to hold our breath—albeit subconsciously which blocks our energy flow. A deep breath in through the nose and exhaling slowly through the mouth can help ease the pain. Repeated in sets of three in and out breaths help ease the tension and opens our healing energy flow.
A prayer you can pray
Jesus, You were a man of sorrows so You know exactly what’s it’s like to hurt from grief. Help me locate my pain and give me the words so others can understand where I hurt. Amen
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