As a cat, the concept of grief can be somewhat foreign to me. I mean, for the most part, my life is really easy. I eat and sleep and look pretty (very very pretty). But I do understand that grief is there, sometimes taking over the people in my life who mean the most to me. It is heart breaking for me to witness grief take over a friend. I feel so powerless. And cats HATE to feel powerless. (Well, powerless and wet). That is why I try never to accompany my friends when they are trying on clothes.
Anyone who has ever been shopping experiences the Five Stages of Grief:
Denial
Anger
Bargaining
Depression and
Acceptance
Sometimes one or more of these stages can be difficult to work through. So I thought a blog post dedicated to this would be helpful. So you can recognize the five stages of grief, and be able to work through them. And then be able to heal and move on.
Stage # 1 Denial. This is in the very beginning of the trying clothes on process (hence it’s stage one). This is when you refuse to believe what size pants you should be trying on, and you march into the change room with a pair that will inevitably not fit.
Stage # 2 Anger. Obviously, this is where you have tried the pants on and they are no where near fitting you….and YOU. ARE. PISSED. What was the point of all those vegetables and all that running (well, walking, but still….!) if you can’t even get a simple pair of pants on?! There is no way this is your fault, a higher power is somehow out to get you. The world is against you!!
Stage # 3 Bargaining. You know what? You probably read the tag wrong. Haha, how silly, but it happens! You didn’t grab your size at all, you grabbed a kid’s pair. Tres drole! This is the part of the process where, right before you double check the tag, you begin talking to the higher power you were just cursing. You explain quickly that if the tag is wrong you will give up ice cream for good, always take the stairs instead of the elevator and start giving all your worldly possessions to charity.
Stage # 4 Depression. Well, you double checked the tag, and there it is. It’s definitely the size you thought you were, and you were definitely wrong. And these pants are definitely not fitting you. On the plus side you no longer have to give up all your worldly possessions, or ice cream. Which is good news, because when you get home you are planning to eat an ENTIRE bucket of ice cream on your own. While watching The Biggest Loser.
Stage # 5 Acceptance. This is when you are finally able to emerge from the change room with your head held high. You fling aside the pants that have now ruined your day, and you go get the damn pants in the next size up, or a few sizes up, depending on how deluded you were before stage # 1. In my humble opinion (ok, maybe humble isn’t the right word…) this is the best stage. So what if you’re a couple of sizes up? Who cares? It’s important to just accept yourself and move on. Look at your feline roommate—she never worries about pant sizes, and she is perfectly content with herself. She simply accepts herself. Come to think of it, she accepts you just the way you are too. Sometimes a cat’s acceptance can help you along, so if you don’t yet have a feline roommate consider inviting one to live with you today. And let the acceptance begin.
Meow Meow For Now,
Toque ♥
No comments:
Post a Comment