Grief affirmations are short and powerful sayings that you repeat to yourself when you need a little mental or spiritual boost. In time, these expressions become your thoughts, which ultimately create your reality.
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These quick-to-read affirmations help create a positive mindset that in turn helps you cope with your grief and loss. They affect the conscious and subconscious mind and as a result, your behavior, thoughts, and actions.
Affirmations bring up related mental images into the mind, which inspire, energize, and motivate.
What Are Grief Affirmations?
Grief affirmations can be repeated throughout the day to help you get through your sorrow. Everyone needs a little pick me up now and then. You don’t have to memorize these nuggets of wisdom. It’s enough to have them written on sticky notes and have them posted in the areas where you’re sure to find them when you need them.
Some familiar places to tuck them away are on:
- Your vanity mirror
- The book on your nightstand
- Your car’s rearview mirror
- The door of your refrigerator
You don’t need to go out of your way to find a special place. You can even ask your friends and family to join you in strategically placing a few here and there to come across later.
13 Grief Affirmations For Coping With Loss
When dealing with the profound loss and sorrow associated with grief, you’ll need help to cope with your loss. Affirmations help change your mindset and to see things from a different perspective.
When you’re feeling down, consider repeating any or all of these affirmations to help you get through:
1. In my grief, I have changed
When you’re grieving, it’s sometimes difficult to remember that you’re no longer the same person as before. With loss comes change. When someone close to you dies, your roles at home change, as does your identity.
Some people may tell you that things will go back to normal in time, or that everything will be fine. The reality is that you’ll have a new normal waiting for you at the end of your grieving process. And although everything will turn out fine, things will no longer be the same for you. Your grief and loss will change you. You will become a different version of your old self.
2. Death does not break the bond of love
When physical life ends, it doesn’t signal the end of the love we have for the person or the love they had for us. Love doesn’t just cease to exist, and you won’t automatically forget what it felt like to receive their love.
There are traditions and celebrations of special days that you can continue even after their death to show how much you loved them. Acts of continuing bonds are a form of therapy that will help you heal from your grief.
Here are some ways in which you can continue to show your love:
- Continue to support a charity close to their heart.
- Hold a memorial in their honor.
- Share memories and stories of them with others.
- Step in and take care of others on their behalf.
- Live life to the fullest in their memory.
3. I can hold on to love and let go of grief
Remind yourself that you don’t have to wallow in your grief. There is no rule to what is proper grieving etiquette. You will know when the right time for you is to let go of your suffering and let love back into your heart.
In time, you’ll realize that your feelings of love are stronger and can help you overcome the lowest points in your grief journey. This isn’t to say that things will be easy for you as you grieve. The pain of your grief is sure to ebb and flow, and you’ll still encounter difficult days. Learn to hold on to love and let go of grief.
4. Today is for healing
Every day gets you one step closer to healing. When you start your day off with this affirmation, it sets the tone for the rest of the day. You start to program your brain into thinking and believing that every day is a step toward resolving your grief.
Healing takes time, and with each passing day, the pain of your loss will begin to ease. Trust the grief process to work towards healing your soul. If you need some healing inspiration, consider reading books on grief to guide you through your journey.
5. My focus is on my blessings
You may not be in the mindset of counting your blessings when someone you love has died, or when you’ve suffered another significant setback. Remind yourself to focus on the blessings in your life. Take measure of all the positive things that preceded your loss.
If someone you love has died, focus your energy on remembering all the love and joy they brought into your life. If you’ve lost your job or home, think about the memories made during the times you had them.
6. Everything must come to an end
The concepts that everything must come to an end and that every living thing must one day die are not new ideas. These truths have been around since the beginning of time. Nothing lasts forever. We all know it, we understand the concept, but when it happens to someone we know and love, or we get fired from our job or lose our home, we act as if it’s shocking that it could’ve happened to us.
We allow grief and sorrow to overtake our reasoning by forgetting that we know and understand the concept of life and death. This affirmation reminds you that everything that is will one day cease. And that death is a part of life.
7. Everyone’s life has meaning
No one knows the exact reasons why we’re born into who we are, what we’re here on Earth to do, or when we’ll die. Regardless of how long or brief a person’s time here on earth is, everyone’s life has meaning.
Remind yourself of all the ways your loved one’s life brought meaning to yours, and cherish the memories that you have. They will last you a lifetime.
8. The pain in my heart will heal
The pain in your heart will heal in time. Remind yourself of this throughout the day each day. The void left behind when someone you love dies can feel as if it’s always going to be there.
And, there may be a part of you that dies when you suffer any type of significant loss, but your heart will mend itself. Trust that it will.
9. I am taking my time to grieve
This affirmation is one of self-care and self-love. When you allow time for the grieving process to take place, you honor yourself and your grief. Take your time to go through the stages of grief and allow them to develop and transition naturally from one to the next.
Different types of grief affect you depending on the type of loss suffered, among other things. In time, you’ll learn to recognize the ebbs and flows of your suffering and how it affects you at any given point. Before you realize, you would’ve made your way through all five stages of grief and be on your way to healing from it.
10. I’m not angry. I’m grieving
Anger is one of the five stages of grief that you are likely to experience. Not everyone goes through this stage, nor does everyone experience it.
Depending on the circumstances surrounding your loss, it may very well be that you are angry with good cause. And that it’s anger and not grief. Whatever the reason behind the emotion, permit yourself to grieve.
11. Grief reminds me that I’m alive
Feeling pain reminds you that you are a living, breathing human being with emotions. Sometimes life’s experiences create a hurt that causes grief, pain, and sorrow. Suffering is a part of life, and almost everyone who is alive has suffered.
Your grief is a reminder that you are part of the living. Whenever your grief becomes challenging to cope with, consider online counseling or therapy to help see you through.
12. I am never alone in my grief
Even though it feels lonely and that you are alone when you’re grieving, know that you’re never alone. If you are a spiritual person, call upon and rely on your higher power to walk you through your pain and suffering.
If you are not so inclined to lean on our spirituality, reach out to your loved ones who care about and understand your grief.
13. In my grief, I love myself
When you spend most of your time taking care of others, it becomes more challenging to recognize the need for a little self-care. Little affirmations of self-love serve as reminders to prioritize yourself throughout your grief journey.
Loving yourself can be done by simple displays of self-care such as forgiving yourself for things that you cannot change, learning to forgive others who have caused you harm, and allowing yourself to move past your grief instead of feeling as if you must grieve for the rest of your life.
Grief Affirmations to Get You Through
Grief affirmations help you cope with grief and get you through even the darkest of days. Dealing with your grief and loss is a natural part of life. Almost everyone will experience a profound loss at least once in their life. These affirmations offer comfort as you go through your grief process.
If you're looking for more resources on grief, read our guides on the bargaining stage of grief and how to deal with the death of a coworker.