What to Expect from Grief
1. Expect grief to be a process that will last longer than you expect.
2. Expect intense and changing emotions.
3. Expect to feel physical effects of grief, including fatigue.
4. Expect that you won't feel like yourself for a long time.
5. Expect to feel lonely.
6. Expect that other people will soon go back to "normal" life, but that it will take you some time to find your "new normal."
7. Expect to feel afraid that more terrible things will happen in your life.
8. Expect to feel as if nothing is important anymore.wheel
9. Expect that you will feel happiness again.
10. Expect anger.
11. Expect more tears than you thought possible.
12. Expect that most people will stop talking about your loved one around you.
13. Expect that some people will seem nervous around you, and that some may even avoid you.
14. Expect that on some days it will be a big accomplishment if you take a shower.
15. Expect that everyday conversations will seem meaningless to you, and in fact, may make you angry.
16. Expect the grief to soften with time.
17. Expect your partner or spouse to grieve differently than you do.
18. Expect to feel raw, wounded, and heartbroken.
19. Expect that you will have little energy and less patience on some days.
20. Expect guilt.
21. Expect good days and bad days, and early in the grief you may have good hours and bad hours.
22. Expect to feel that there could not possibly be better days ahead (but there are).
23. Expect that people will not know what to say, and that some will say really stupid things.
24. Expect that you will never be quite the same as you were before, and recognize that it is okay to build from where you are now.
25. Expect to feel crazy at times (but you aren't).
26. Expect to always love and remember your loved one.
27. Expect people to think you should be "over" your grief when you are right in the middle of it.
28. Expect to need support to get through this.
29. Expect that you will find things that make you smile again.
30. Expect not to know what to expect.