Sunday, March 04, 2007

Time to Grieve: "Don't Rush Me!"

A life lesson landed at my feet in a parking lot the other day.

Three people were just ahead and one of the women caught her toe on the edge of the pavement, stumbled and fell onto the walk. Her husband and friend asked her if she was hurt and then grabbed her arms and tried to pull her up.

As I approached I heard her say, “Don’t make me get up just yet!”

Why do we so often kick into gear and try to help someone without pausing to ask, “Do you need help?” or ‘How can I help?” Maybe it’s more about us than them. We want to resolve uncomfortable situations even if they are not ours to fix.

Many people in grief have told me how upsetting it was when their family, their friends, even their doctor thought they were taking too long to “get over” their loss.

Has anyone been trying to get you back on your feet too quickly? How does that feel? What would be more helpful?

Just click on Comments below to share your experience.