Whenever you experience a loss, you're supposed to feel something and it's perfectly normal. There's nothing wrong with you.
Mary Ann Udell briefly introduces herself as a coach who focuses on loss and grief and names the topic: it's okay to feel bad. This orients viewers to the video's purpose and tone.
Mary Ann explains that her mother recently died and she just returned from the funeral, noting conversations with her sister and acknowledging the normality of strong feelings even when the deceased was elderly. This personal context models the grief she's describing.
She reassures viewers that feeling bad, angry, sad, lethargic or foggy is part of grief and not something to be rushed past. She emphasizes that grief is about learning to live with the loss rather than 'getting over' it.
Mary Ann tells viewers they can continue moving forward while still feeling sad and urges them not to shame themselves for not feeling cheerful. She offers a simple practice of noting how and why they feel each day to track changes and increase awareness.
She reminds viewers to take care of themselves, mentions when she'll return, and says goodbye, closing the short supportive message.
Hi everybody, this is Mary Ann Udell. For those of you who haven't met me yet, I am a coach, a personal coach that focuses on loss and grief. Yeah. And the topic for today is it's okay to feel bad. You're allowed to feel bad. My mom died recently. And I just got back from her funeral. And I was talking with my sister and, you know, she was talking about how bad she was feeling. Mom was 96, yes. But it's okay to feel bad. You're supposed to feel bad. No matter what kind of loss happens, feeling bad is part of the grief experience.
I know nobody wants to feel bad, but that's allowed. You don't have to be feeling up and happy and really wonderful all the time. Your body is designed to experience grief like this, to feel something. to be angry, to be sad, to be mad, to be lethargic, foggy. All of that is part of what grief is. And it's not waiting to get over it. It's learning how to live with it. So you can feel bad and still keep moving forward. You can feel bad and sad and know that you're doing what you're supposed to do.
So don't feel bad because you're not happy, chippy, cheery. Let yourself have this experience and take care of yourself. You're allowed to feel bad. And if it helps, just take a note at the beginning or end of every day. How am I feeling? And why am I feeling like this? It will help you become more aware of the changes from day-to-day. See if that helps. In the meantime, take care of yourself and I'll be back here at my normal time next week at 11:30 Pacific Time. Bye-bye.
Reactions and comments are for members. Joining is free and takes a minute.
