Situational Depression: Grief and Loss

Picture of lake by author

I found myself feeling bummed out yesterday. I allowed myself to feel despair over my job loss and the changing landscape of my life. I was focusing on what could happen in the coming weeks and months due to the loss of a significant portion of our family income. I was focusing on how we would be able to continue to pay our bills without losing one of our cars or our cell phone service or Internet access. What I did not realize is that I was and still am experiencing grief.
There are things that we can control and then there are things we cannot control. When things that are outside of our control happen we find ourselves experiencing mental and emotional anguish.
I am not stranger to grief. You experience grief when you lose something that is near and dear to your heart such as a family member. We lost a daughter to cancer back on August 5th 2001 at around 2 am in the morning. I remember holding my daughter’s hand and telling her it was ok for her to let go. The landscape of that grief has changed over the last 24 years. It is easier for me to talk about it now without tearing up immediately.
When I recently got laid off from my contract job I experienced loss. My immediate concern was the loss of income. My super power is worrying.
I manage finances in our household and I always have the budget running rampant in my head reminding me what bills are due and how much they are. I am always keeping…