There will be days in which you will feel overcome by your grief. You’ll have gone days, weeks, months, maybe even years and something will cause the wound to feel fresh again. It’s natural. It’s part of the journey. It sucks. So what do you do?

Of course, you could always talk to a friend, colleague, or professional. But if you’re just having ‘one of those days’ (we all do) than maybe you’d like to try one of the following acts that I came up with.

Release a balloon.

I have a good friend who lost her mother a few months after she gave birth to her first child, a beautiful baby boy. She was best friends with her mother, and I cannot imagine the pain that she went though when she lost her. Not only did she loose a friend and mom, she lost a woman who she should have been able to go to for guidance and help as she began her journey through motherhood. Her little boy, who will be turning two this year, will not have any real memories of his grandmother. But she makes sure that he knows how much his grandma loved him. She has started a wonderful tradition of releasing a balloon with her son on his grandmothers birthday, sending their love up to her in Heaven. This is something so simple and meaningful that anyone could do for a loved one that they have lost. You could release a balloon on your loved one’s birthday, anniversary or favorite holiday. As you watch the balloon rise into the sky, you’ll be surprised as a smile forms on your face.

You can also release a sky lantern if they are available in your area. I always recommend releasing them by a body of water, since there is a small fire inside of them.

Write a letter.

I don’t think that it really comes as a surprise to all of you folks that I tend to lean towards writing if I’m feeling sad. I like to be able to arrange my words on paper or on a computer screen until they resemble the emotions that I’m feeling. One of the best parts for me is that I can backspace, or erase my words if what I originally wrote just didn’t seem right. There is just something about getting your emotions out of your head and onto paper. It really feels like that weight is no longer on your shoulders. And even though you can’t necessarily send a letter to a loved one who has passed, you could lay the letter on their tombstone or maybe bury it in the sand on a beach or at their favorite park. The main thing is that you’re getting your feelings out. And that will ease the pain.

Look at the stars.

Abraham Lincoln once said, “I can see how it might be possible for a man to look down upon the earth and be an atheist, but I cannot conceive how he could look up into the heavens and say there is no God.” Whenever I lay and look at the stars, I’m filled with such amazement. Amazement at life. Amazement in the fact that this is not all there is. And even on my darkest days, that thought alone brings light back into my heart.