I’m pretty sure no one will get through life without experiencing some type of grief. Normally, I associate grief with the loss of a loved one, but there are many types of grief. People can grieve for a number of reasons like the loss of a job, a relational breakup, a medical crisis, an estranged family member, to name a few. This devastating sadness is much like waves that crash onto the shore. Over and over again, the tide comes in and out, turning up the sands into a turbulent frenzy. It seems to much to bear at times with the overwhelming feeling that the sun will never shine again.

What I have learned is that grief is not something that ends, rather something to just endure. There is no way to push through it thinking it will soon end. There is no other side or something that is ever completed. Rather grief is acceptance. There is adjustment. There is absorption.  It becomes a part of who you are. It’s an altered life. It’s a different way of being. It’s a circle with no beginning and no ending.

The wound heals, but the scar remains. A reminder of the event in life. At first, it’s tender to the touch. It’s protected from the outside world.  As time goes on, the touch of that scar brings back those memories with a different tenderness. The waves that once crashed are gentler now with the knowledge that something significant transpired.

What will I do with my grief? As I accept, adjust and absorb, I am reminded that others are walking where I have already been. It allows me to understand empathy in a way I couldn’t before. Those trials that come along, that endurance, has made me stronger. I now have a new way of seeing, and a new definition of one’s self. 

This life allows each one of us to experience new ways of being. That being allows us to understand, show compassion, and love others. 

Health bite: Embrace life experiences and live fully to love others