“When we are bereaved, an event…has left our lives more or less in shambles. Much has happened that can not be undone, no matter how fervently we may desire it…If we are to pick up the pieces of our lives and go on without those who have died, we must…choose to cope rather than succumb.”

Coping with grief is an active process that requires that we change or patterns and direction in life. Although we have no choice in bereavement, we can make choices in our grieving. The author of this quote is saying that, although so much of what we took for granted in our lives is now gone, we can build a reshape our lives and build a new relationship with the deceased.

If you would like to read more about this perspective on grief, please see:

“How we Grieve” by Thomas Attig