24. Grief

This episode was recorded at The Universal Man - Being Great Men weekend. All 12 participants were involved in recording. Oliver Wightman, Bruce McGregor Brendan Hawes, David Graham, Luke Baker, Jimmy Purcell, Simon McDonald, James Kasch, Bruce Taylor, Liam McGuire, Greg Layton and Damien Price. Grief, at its simplest is the reaction to a loss, and in the face of that loss, adjusting to a new reality. It's the absence of something in our life and how our life changes because of that loss. And it takes many, many forms. It could be, like I'm actually getting really old, so it's the lost of my youth, it can be the loss of a particular relationship, it could be the loss of a particular dream. Loss takes a million forms. And that doesn't make anyone of them, is any less, or more, important. And there's a beautiful piece of desiderata, which talks about, "Take kindly the council of youth, gracefully surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit, to shield you in sudden misfortune." And I think it's important to acknowledge that grief isn't something you can plan for. And it's two o'clock on a Tuesday afternoon, or it's the midnight phone call. It can be sprung on you ... The time is not a think that grief controls. It just happens. And grief is an internal process. And we'll talk a bit more about that later on. But it's not always visible from the outside on others. So, whilst people may be able to put on a steely exterior, they're still grieving on the inside, as it is an internal process. Sometimes we associate grief with a sense of weakness, or a sense of vulnerability, but I think an important thing ... As you experience grief, you sort of understand, it's a natural thing. It's something you can't really avoid. And everybody goes through grief in some way after a loss. Be it a loss of health, it could be a loss of a relationship, it could be a loss of a job, or a loss of friend. Everyone goes through some sort of grief after that loss. And it's a totally normal thing to happen. We cover: 1. What is grief 2. When do we get it wrong 3. Some steps to follow to help 4. How it relates in the context of Universal Man For full details check out www.universalman.org/grief