Above all, be kind to yourself

Even as spring is popping up out of the ground here where I live, so many of my friends and acquaintances are experiencing great loss - the death of beloved best friends, their longtime companion pets, parents, or siblings.?

Grief is a wild and fickle wilderness of emotion and memory. My Dad died of a sudden, fatal heart-attack 5 years ago- and sometimes I will see a white haired older gentleman driving a car, or entering a store- and I literally am hit with the missing of my Dad, fresh again. I usually start talking to him in my head, making that link to him, even if it is only in my head. And I am comforted, and cheered.

And the grieving doesn't have to be the literal death of someone, but a loss of some sort. I’ll think of friends I've lost, thru miscommunication or misunderstandings,? and often cry in my sadness... and that’s OK.

That’s the thing about the wildness of grief: it will come at you at different times. You never know when a huge emotion will overtake you and knock you sideways.?

If you have in any way experienced loss recently and are hurting, I encourage you to let the grief happen. Try to stay in tune with your emotions, and take space in your day to feel what you are feeling. Whether that is anger, confusion, loneliness, or disbelief, whatever you are feeling, allow yourself to feel it. Acknowledge the feeling and know that the feeling will pass. If we can just learn to ride those emotions, and believe that putting one step in front of the other will eventually start the healing process-? that is good enough.?

Above all, be kind to yourself. When you are in grief is not a time to be judging yourself harshly, to be saying things to yourself like you should be doing this or you shouldn’t be feeling this. No, have the utmost care and kindness for your very self.?

You are worth it- Kelli