Grief's Many Faces

The further my life’s journey extends into its seventh decade, the more I seem to recognize the reality of loss within myself and others. Someone older told me some three decades ago there would come a time when I would read the obituary column with as much interest as the front page. That day has come as more of my own generation are writing their final chapters. Recently, Paul Allen became the most notable. Both of us were born in 1953. Sobering!

The reality needing definition, recognition, and management is grief. Grief is an often blunt and brutal emotion that rears its head anytime we experience loss. Decades back, Dr. Elizabeth Kubler-Ross identified the stages of grief—denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance—and yet, we continue to have great difficulty recognizing grief’s presence in ourselves and others.

Such failure can be catastrophic! We who spend our professional lives serving clients, shaping their dreams, managing their assets and expectations, must become adept at recognizing grief’s many faces. Keep reading.