Personal Account from a Growth Story Writer
While we at Hold the Door for Others believe that writing your story of growth
through loss is an important aspect of the healing process, we also understand
that it is a challenging task. Moreover, we know that asking you to share
your story to inspire others may raise other concerns. Individual reactions
to the writing process will vary, a challenge you can expect is that you
will experience feelings as you retell the story of your loss. We encourage
you to attend to these feelings and reach our to us or your friends and family
if you see fit.
It is very possible that writing your story will be a pleasant
experience. However, there are instances that reconnecting
to your loss brings forth some feelings that may be challenging.
It is perfectly normal to have a range of emotions such as
sadness, depression, anger, fear, worry and others. You may
also experience a sense of joy because you learn how much
you have grown or you feel good because you are connecting
once again with your loved one and helping people. Regardless
of what you feel, it is natural. Our Workbook Living with
Loss, which can be downloaded for free, www.holdthedoor.com,
may be helpful if you feel overwhelmed with this experience.
Below is the personal account of the challenges one of our
stories of growth
writers faced and overcame. We encourage you to contact us with any additional
questions or concerns as you begin the writing process.
When I first agreed to write this story, I couldn’t
stop thinking things like, “How am I going to do this,
this is going to be so hard,” and “I am not really
sure in what ways I have grown so how can I write a Growth
Story?” I knew I wanted to do it but really felt as
though the task seemed quite insurmountable at first. I had
planned to start the story on one day, and then found a really
good excuse in my mind as to why that just wasn’t the
right day, and I must say, that this did not happen only
once. Finally, I sat down one night and just decided to write
anything that came to mind and go from there. I decided that,
although this was personal and it was important to me to
consider what others would read, I could always go back later
and edit or change something. Before I knew it the first
page was complete. While it was very sad to think about that
time in such detail and remember all of the events, I was
quite satisfied that I had begun to put my story down on
paper.
Once I was able to summarize the details of my loss, I had
another challenge of figuring out how exactly did I grow
from this event that was so horrible to me in many ways and
which concept within the OTHERS(S) model truly related to
my growth following my loss. So, I took some time to review
all of the concepts to see which one(s) resonated with me.
It became clear to me that there were little and big aspects
of Emotional Intelligence that were weaved all throughout
the growth related to my loss and very related to the person
I have become since that experience. I had never realized
before how such a positive part of my life and who I am today
was related to the struggles I faced as a result of my loss.
Gaining this awareness has really allowed me to look at things
through a different perspective and has encouraged me to
explore other ways in which I have grown and ways that I
would like to continue to grow. It has also made me realize
how important it is to connect to people and share examples
of growth with others in order to help them see ways in which
they have grown too.
If you have any questions in regard to the this process
please contact Breanna , MA, Breanna@holdthedoor.com or
1 (888) 314-Door. |
