You can pay ahead
Getting in on the sale
Grief flows in and out of every life. Sometimes it appears as a narrow creek that you can jump over and sometimes it is a flood. Those who live in areas that are more prone to hurricanes must be good at planning, risk-taking or gambling. There is often choice. They can anticipate what may happen in their heads but that doesn’t make it easier to evacuate a home. Anticipating grief may be a little better for you. Stay with me. Your thoughts are all yours to conjure up. Thinking ahead about circumstances involves coming up with possible outcomes. Knowing both ends of every spectrum is akin to becoming a scientist about your life. Surprises catch us off guard. Anticipating any end game that involves disappointment is a lesson in grief. That word is typically reserved for death, but it’s actually an emotion that we experience in a wide range throughout our life. Keep in mind, this does not make it easier. If you want easy, look elsewhere. And that is because feelings flow. The actual beauty of them is their unknown effect on us. Preparing or anticipating grief or joy is just an activity. It certainly helps the more concrete decisions get made, but not what the heart experiences. The important part of anticipation is the lingering time it takes. There is no rush because the result is unknown. This time lapse permits many scenarios to bubble up. Anticipated thoughts may help decrease the chance of regret. Most humans cite regret as unwelcome. But like anticipatory grief, eliminating possible regret pays off well.
Looking ahead only seems sad when we attach it to language that narrowly defines it. Creating earlier thoughts about events that will occur sets up a more likely scenario to have feelings of clarity.
Look ahead to move ahead
Option #1: What may happen in your life soon that you can anticipate?
Option #2: Conclusions may have multiple endings. Are your conclusions negative based?
Option #3: Do you see any benefit in preparation for any part of life?
That’s it. After you choose the option that best describes how you anticipate grief, take a few minutes to describe why you chose that option and what action, if any, may come next.
