Losing a child will be the most difficult loss in your life, but you can and will get through it. One of the most productive ideas for your well-being after the death is choosing to find a cause, a reason to move on with your life.
Parents may become active in different organizations. These include: Compassionate Friends, Bereaved Parents USA or Alive Alone for childless parents. Not only do they join these organizations to help themselves, but in time, they start helping others who are just beginning the journey. Others who want to become even more involved get on the boards and help in any way they can to keep the organization vibrant for those who follow. Organizations such as Parents of Murdered Children or the survivors of suicide victims have volunteers who help man the phones. By becoming involved you are not only helping the organization, you are helping yourself to grow and move on.
A father who lost three children in different car accidents has started his own Compassionate Friends chapter in his hometown and finds a new purpose to his life. New groups start all the time in a variety of cities dealing with infant loss, SIDS, still births, cancer and other causes of death.
Having a cause, a purpose in life, can be very rewarding. You will know when it is right for you and when everything will fall in place. Until then, keep working on your grief journey and what you want to do with the rest of your life, try to set a goal and aim to reach the sky.
Thanks for this article. So many people use volunteering to pull themselves out of despair. Volunteering is an excellent way to help when you are grieving. To help others while you are in pain provides a huge emotional benefit. I break volunteering into two types. One is the hands-on kind that is physical (and maybe tiring) which is excellent for all that pent up energy. Packing books, working at a food pantry, raking and shoveling at a park – getting some serious physical work is great to combine with the great feeling from helping others. It’s a powerful combination. The second kind is the advocacy volunteering that many people get involved in – working on legislation, fundraising, raising awareness – more intellectual activities that are usually directly related to the loss. Volunteers feel as though they are part of the whole, part of a solution. Grieving people should think about what they need and choose the activities that fit.