Title: From Loss to Love | Psychology Today
Headings: From Loss to Love
From Loss to Love
The pain of loss is unavoidable, yet millions harm themselves trying to escape it. But loss has a sweet side, and when you open yourself to the pain, you open yourself to joy.
The Ubiquity of Loss
Pain Mishandled: The Feedback Loop from Hell
Mental Flexibility: The Path to Healing
Handling a Death vs Honoring a Life
How to Deal With the Pain of Loss
1: Acknowledge loss.
2: Embrace feelings of loss.
3: Expand your scope of vision.
4: Prepare to be overwhelmed.
5: Watch out for unhelpful thoughts.
6: Connect with what matters.
7: Take committed action.

Content: Can anyone say "twin towers" without a slight shudder? When your local news reports on a violent crime in your neighborhood, do you lock your doors before going to sleep? Glance outside your windows? You can add things to your environment to try to regain a sense of safety—gates on your community drive or a camera on your front porch—but human cognition means the innocence that was there before you knew what could happen is gone, never to be returned to you. Simply growing older may bring loss of comfort and function due to the onset of chronic pain or increasing frailty. Some functions may come back, and some pains may subside, but some likely never will. Anytime, anywhere, any loss can revisit you, because human cognition is like that: It contains the capacity to remember. What is there to do about that? Loss is a reminder of the impermanence of life, and sadness signals that you cared: