Get Back In The Game! Recover From Emotional Devastation with The New Plan A

Just about everyone can relate to the basic phenomenon of grief following any kind of meaningful loss. And, whether they share openly about it or not (in our dominant culture’s minimization and denial of grief, typically not), a surprising number of people identify with the feelings of emotional devastation and hopelessness. Thus the question of how to heal from heartbreak, loss, and grief tends to resonate broadly with people, regardless of their particular kind of loss.

Recovery and healing, personal and professional productivity, and emotional well-being – individually and among family, friends, and colleagues – are all improved when bereaved individuals experience  acknowledgement, validation, understanding, and connection.

Forget about Plan B, which could only ever be an undesired runner-up to your original Plan A. The New Plan A is a system of practices and skills based on acceptance, deep and complete, of your reality as it is right now. Seemingly paradoxically, this kind of acceptance is actually the quickest and surest path to change, from where you are right now to wherever you want to be (even if you’re not sure anymore exactly where that is).

Falling down is part of life; getting up is living. 

Do you agree with this adage? I do, and here’s why. While anyone might use the word “devastated” to describe how they’re feeling following a life-changing loss, most people fall into one of two groups: those who are able to assimilate their grief as they carry on with their lives and those who struggle to get up and moving again. 

“Emotional devastation” defined.

Anyone who has suffered one or more significant losses is going to experience some predictable emotions. Every person doesn’t necessarily experience every emotion, and each person’s situation and circumstances are unique. Thus everyone’s experience of grief is as unique as a fingerprint and as singular as a snowflake. While anyone might use the word “devastated” to describe how they feel following a significant loss, when I use it I’m talking about the people who feel totally flattened. And whatever the details of any one person’s situation and circumstances, it is no less true that there are universal aspects to the experience of loss, grief, and bereavement, making the healing journey one we can share with fellow travelers and kindred spirits along the way.

It’s not about strength or weakness. 

Feeling devastated, unable to move forward, stuck… they’re not about strength or weakness. Feeling devastated is about the fact that everyone has a breaking point. While anyone who has suffered life-changing loss can benefit from the practices and skills of The New Plan A, I have created this approach especially for the people who’ve hit their breaking point and feel that healing and reclaiming a life of emotional well-being and inner peace is out of reach for them. If you or someone you know feels that life has come apart at the seams, take heart: there really is a new and good life out there waiting for you. And The New Plan A is how you’ll get there. 

The heart and soul of The New Plan A is acceptance, deep and complete.

Acceptance. We use the word in ordinary language all the time. But in The New Plan A, its meaning is narrowly defined and precisely applied. To accept means only to acknowledge the basic, bare-bones facts about a person, a place, a thing, or a situation, as it is, right now… without interpretation, commentary, judgement, or preference. That’s the hard part. But you can learn how to do it. It’s simple, even if it’s not always easy. All it takes is practice. The New Plan A is all about how to actually do it.

What acceptance, deep and complete isn’t.

Despite common notions to the contrary, to accept something does not mean that you like it, agree with it, or approve of it; it does not mean you are condoning it or being passive in relation to it; it certainly doesn’t mean you’re giving up; and it doesn’t even mean you can’t still work to change whatever it is that you’re accepting deeply and completely right now. Once you’ve begun practicing acceptance, deep and complete, you will not have to take my word for it;  you will experience for yourself its power to bring about the changes you seek more quickly and more surely than trying to change ever will. 

Why learn to practice acceptance, deep and complete?

Acceptance, deep and complete, is the shortest distance between where you are right now and everywhere you want to be. As you stop banging your head against the wall of everything that’s already said and done and begin practicing acceptance, deep and complete, the changes you most want to bring about in your life will begin happening for you. It won’t happen by thinking about it; it will happen by actually doing it. The New Plan A is all about how to get it off the page and into your life.

The woulda-shoulda-coulda train stops here.

Loss and grief can take many forms. Bereavement is often complex. Stress comes in a hundred and one varieties. And, no matter what has gone before, everyone deserves the chance to get free from regret, heal their heart, and reclaim their right to live an enjoyable, satisfying life. 
If you’re ready to get off that train and onto the path that leads to restored emotional well-being and inner peace, The New Plan A is your ticket. Simple daily practices are all it takes. Suspend your skepticism, roll up your sleeves, and make way for the changes you most want to bring about in your life: one breath, one step, one moment, and one day at a time. It won’t take a lifetime to get a new life!