Rizzo also credits the time she spent truly feeling her feelings for the better place she’s in today.
“Some people really repress it,” she said. “And when you feel it coming on, they’re like, ‘Nope, nope, nope, not gonna deal with it, not going to talk about it, not going to cry, not going to experience it.’ And what I’ve learned, and I think the reason I’m doing so well now, and I’ve been okay, is because I went through it. I didn’t try to go around it, I never tried to go over it or under it, I went through it.”
In the beginning, ”it’s every five minutes,” Rizzo continued. “Then after a few [days], maybe it’s every half hour, and then it’s every hour, and then it’s once a day—or a few times a day—and then it’s a few times a week. Whatever it is, when those waves of grief just hit you, just be like, ‘Oh, I feel it coming on, here it comes,’ and then just cry, get it out, feel the pain.”
Yes, she acknowledged, “It sucks. But whether it’s for one minute or 10 minutes or 20, however long that wave is, just let it happen. And then afterwards, you’re going to feel better. Like it’s almost like a release and a relief that you actually experienced it, and then you feel better going forward versus avoiding it.”