Grief is a tricky beast.
We all grieve, it’s one of the realities of life. We all weather emotional wounds. Yet we’re not very good at sitting with our grief and loss or working through it.
Grief 2 Growth by Brian D. Smith is a short, practical, compassionate book on grief and how it can possibly help you grow as a person.
I met Brian about a year ago through a business coaching program I’ve been part of (George Kao’s Master Heart, if you’re curious) and was comforted to find someone else in the grief business.
Brian is a grief coach who helps people dealing with grief from the death of a loved one, often parents whose child has died, move forward through life and survive the experience, and perhaps even thrive. He’s learned how to do this first hand. His own child died when she was 15 years old.
His book, Grief 2 Growth, is filled with concrete advice and empathic understanding. As I read, I found myself nodding along in agreement with many, although not all, of his ideas and explanations.
He defines grief happening “when our mental image of what should be doesn’t line up with what is.” That’s a similar idea to The Grief Recovery Institute’s understanding of the pain of loss coming from unrealized hopes, dreams and expectations.
Brian’s own program for surviving grief includes practicing gratitude, exercising, feeding the mind, meditation, service and reading.
While there are a few places where our thoughts on whether or not you can truly heal from grief differ, Brian’s book is a compact, compassionate look into how you can use your grief to fuel your growth.
You can check out Brian’s podcast here. I’m episode 27.