Originally posted on Facebook HERE
Everything is awesome if we see it that way. Or terrible. Our point of view determines how we navigate our lives, and often how happy we are as well. In my work I have to deal with loss a lot. Deaths and divorces are common, basically monthly occurrences for my clientele. And I think we all see almost daily that someone we know has lost a pet, or had an accident, or lost a job, or any number of things that could create tension, anxiety, sadness and despair in our lives. We all handle grief differently. Losing a loved one – whether it’s a family member or a pet, really – is a terrible thing to go through. I’ve had plenty of both in my life. My father died of a heart attack – I just got a call one night, and that was it. My mother spent 12 years in a nursing home before passing away at age 97 after getting sick in the ecoli outbreak in Milwaukee years ago. I’ve had to say goodbye to many beloved pets over the years – Duffy, Snoopy, Clyde, Bones, Fang, Cosmo… ugh. I loved them all. There many things that can be lost in life – possessions, jobs, relationships, etc… but death really hammers things home in a way nothing else can. I consider myself lucky to come from a family where I learned over time that we do need to cry and grieve and feel that pain, but then what’s more important is that we realize how grateful we are for even being able to have had the experience of spending time with that person, or that pet, at all. Because the more pain we feel, the more love we got to experience. The worst hurt comes from the greatest loves of our lives. Would you deny yourself that pain to not ever have that experience? To never know that person? To never have that pet? I think not. So when the pain seems insurmountable, when you feel like you’ve cried every bit of emotion and feeling from your soul and heart out, and all that’s left is an empty shell… take a look back and remember where that pain is coming from. You can’t feel that pain without having felt intense love over a long period of time. Remember that. Get in touch with that. Rejoice that you had the experience at all, because nobody else on earth ever will have that exact experience you got to have. What a gift. What a crazy ride we’re on. Unexpected loss does not have to break us. It can create a greater appreciation for the time we have and everything we have, or have ever had, if we choose to see it that way.
