Let’s face it. Grief isn’t pleasant to deal with. It’s hard, grueling and it stirs up emotions we don’t like or know what to do with. However, ignoring grief isn’t any easier in the long haul. If you bury or cover it up and pretend nothing’s wrong and you’ll lose days, weeks, months and in some cases even years of your life in the process. Things will pass you by. You’ll be numb to the rest of the world, like a zombie, just going through the motions. And before you know it, the hole you’re in will become even deeper. Don’t sweep your sadness under the rug any more. Instead, determine to break out of the grief that’s been binding you. Snap out of it, pull the rug back and get it out. Comment here.

What causes us grief? It could be anything from losing a loved one, facing a crisis, prolonged stress, loss of a job, financial pressure, broken relationships, unresolved conflict, physical pain to deteriorating health. In other words, anything that hurts. There are many different things that can bring sadness to our lives. Some react by trying to avoid anything that hurts or causes them grief. Do you do that? Quite frankly, it’s impossible to do. You’d have to live in total isolation completely removed from the entire world in order to avoid all sources of grief. And no one can do that. Rather than desperately trying to avoid it, why not learn to cope with it instead? In the long run, facing our grief head on might hurt less. Think about it. Comment here.

Most of the time, when we grieve, we grieve over something that’s happened in our lives. But there are also times when we grieve over something that hasn’t happened or “what might have been.” Unrealized expectations and dashed hopes can paralyze us with sadness. We mourn for what we could have had, could have done or could have experienced. We live in a fog as we struggle with our unmet goals and dreams. Are you wrestling with accepting something in your life? Mourning a shattered dream? Instead of focusing on what might have been, try focusing on what is and what could still be. Revising your dreams isn’t bad. It’s realistic. And the sooner you do, the sooner the weight of grief will let go. The fog will lift. Hope will return. Comment here.

Most of us in the trucking industry spend an incredible amount of time by ourselves. As a result, we experience a lot of life alone. And naturally that large amount of aloneness has made us fairly self-sufficient. We’ve learned to do most things on our own. We’ve learned to cope with pretty much everything by ourselves. However, when it comes to grief our solitary lifestyle is faced with a dilemma. Grief can’t be successfully overcome on our own. We need the help of others to get through our season of sadness. Two are stronger than one. When one is down, the other can pick him/her up. Is there someone in your life who you can lean on when you’re sad? Who’s picking you up? Comment here.   

For more information, check out the issues section on our resources page or contact us. You can also call our toll-free Trucker Prayer Line at 1-877-797-PRAY (7729). We’re here for you.

Many of us in the trucking industry pride ourselves on being tough. We’re seasoned, street-smart and strong. We can handle anything. So when we’re hurting, what do we do? Suck it up and hit the road, right? Never let anyone see us sweat. And definitely never let anyone see you cry. Cry? Are you kidding? We don’t cry. And even if we do, we wouldn’t admit it anyway. Listen, you and I don’t have time to argue. The fact is sometimes we do cry. And if we never cry at all, then maybe there is something wrong. Maybe we’re denying or burying our emotions because we're afraid we won’t know how to handle the pain. Be strong enough to admit when you’re hurting. Sometimes that starts with tears. When our heart is broken, it usually leaks out our eyes. Comment here.