It’s been 2 years since my mom passed away. I started a blog journey in 2019 and as many things in life, I got a little side tracked. Here’s what grief is still teaching me.

Grief is a Toddler

No matter how much we tune grief out, tell it to ‘hold it’, or pretend like we don’t hear it; grief will be heard and will make itself known in interesting ways.

Grief is Not a Competition

So many times we belittle our grief in comparison to the grief of someone else’s. We quiet our own struggle so the struggle of someone else can have full attention; why do we do that? Our losses should not separate us. Our losses connect us. Those who grieve know each other’s thoughts and feelings without ever having to say a word. Don’t have a friend to talk to? Connect with a program called GriefShare! They are everywhere! Because again… grief is a toddler, it will get our attention one way or another.

Grief Unites

Grief can also be a time of reflection and silent processing. But in the end it has the potential to reunite us with purpose and perspective.

Grief Does Not Own a Watch

So often I hear, ‘I Should be better by now’, but grief does not own a watch. It does not care how long it has been since the passing of a loved one. Grief does not have a timer set to alert us if it is done ambushing us.

When I lost people who influence my life I couldn’t even grasp ‘better’. Better would mean things would be the way they were. Death is one of those doors we don’t get to walk back through on this side of eternity. ‘Better’, for me, was unrealistic and set me up for huge emotional failure. Instead of ‘better’, I like to aim for Hope. My goal is still never to be better, but I can be hopeful.