Grief rarely follows five neat stages. It comes and goes, and it catches you off guard in the cereal aisle or on a birthday. Psychologist J. William Worden described four "tasks" of mourning that offer a gentler way to understand where you are in your grief and how to care for yourself along the way.

Wondering which stage of grief you're in? The 5 stages can be a helpful map, but grief rarely follows one. Learn what the stages get right, what they leave out, and why there's no wrong way to grieve.

Grief doesn't follow a timeline, and it isn't only about losing someone to death. From breakups to lost dreams, grief can show up in many forms, and there's no wrong way to feel it.