You have heard about it on the news, read about it, and you knew that people die, but now you have been confronted with it in the flesh. It is as though you have stepped into another world, and there is no going back; this experience will stay with you the rest of your days. The only question is how you deal with it.
It is really not about the guest who died; rather it is about you being confronted about your own mortality. Before it was probably just a philosophy but now it has impacted your life. Take relaxing baths, do relaxation exercises, listen to relaxing music, and try to let go. View what you have witnessed as an opportunity to embrace your own mortality on a much deeper level.
Journaling may help and talking to others who have lost a loved one. Try to view this in a positive way, a way that will have you be less afraid of death. You most likely will be exposed to this again at sometime in your life; the death of a pet, attending a friend’s or loved one’s funeral who has an open casket, see a person who has died in a car accident as you drive by a crash scene, or you may encounter another hotel guest who has passed.
These are all situations that can help us prepare for our own death. Write your feelings down and revisit what you have written in weeks or months, add to what you have written as insights come to you. You are grieving the loss of another human being, even though you may have never known that human being, and because it was up close, it has become personal.
Trauma counseling is a great idea but do not expect an instant relief. Use this experience as a learning tool as you might use every other experience in your life. The topic is not about the guest who died, rather the topic is about you and how you feel about the end of your life, having now witnessed the end of someone else’s life. You can start with how do you feel about seeing a dead body.
If you wish, share your feelings here and others here may comment on what you have shared and offer some support. Talking about it does help. I don't know if you are a religious or spiritually oriented person, but in my opinion, no one dies until it is time for them to die, and you did not find this person sooner because you were not meant to find them sooner. So stop the "what if's." Be at peace.
