I’m not sure that we’re ever ready for a loved one to pass away. Even after all this time, I am still not ready. Yet, these reflections on grieving are radiant with life because to have loved has turned out to mean: to have lived.

What more could one ask for?

Healing is an honor, though perhaps one wrapped in darkness, like a star is.

Nevertheless, there is love.

Reflections on Grieving, and How Love, Still, Means Life

1. Where grief exists, the easy is not easy.

2. I walk this path,

Healing as I go,

Knowing I do not walk alone.

3. Grief makes you replay scenes in your head that never happened, the ones you didn’t get to have.

4. From the root of your suffering, there grows a new capacity for courage.

5. “To avoid the pain of loss would be to avoid the love and life we shared.” — Elisabeth Kubler-Ross

6. Continue to love: continue to live. Continue to be loved: continue to live.

7. “Grief is part of who I am. It lives in the very bones of me… so does love.” — Unknown

8. “There is no pain so great as the memory of joy in present grief.” — Aeschylus II

9. “The pain now is part of the happiness then. That’s the deal.” — C.S. Lewis

10. Sharing your suffering with those you trust isn't always courage; sometimes, it's about survival. Survival first, then healing.

11. I have never lived so much until I understood how much life had given me.

12. The soul is not complete

Without death,

Without continuation,

Without life’s next breath.

13. I don’t think we must be grateful for having a wound like losing someone we love, but, eventually, we can be grateful for the spiritual rooms that we enter because of where our path has led. We can be grateful for the cracking open that happens as a result of having such a deep wound.

14. Through a wider understanding of what love really means, we can understand that grief is really a telltale sign that love still breathes.

. . .

Tell me:

Which of these thoughts did you need to read today?

Tell me in the comments. I read every single one, and I'd love to know!

One breath. One at a time. One moment of eternal love in the middle of time. This is how we heal.

With love,

Jen

P.S. Nights are hard. If you need help sleeping during this difficult time, get my book Sleep Affirmations for heart-talk and healing where you need it most.