GRIEVING

A death, an accident, a severe disappointment, or a failure tears apart the fabric of our life. What was normal and self-evident before is suddenly askew, wrong, distorted. We were so happy with our circumstances – and now this!

We begin to grieve for a past reality. Everything good and valuable can all of a sudden only be found in the past, and the present is filled with enraged grief.

How unjust we are towards life! One of the important exercises which we should begin to practice as early as possible in life is to accept that every day brings changes. If one grasps that fully, one will never expect that any condition – be it health or illness, happiness or disappointment, success or failure – is lasting.

If we live in this state of readied awareness, we feel gratitude for every moment of happiness, and with an intensity that we had not suspected previously.

Grieving needs one thing, however: Time. Only when we give ourselves plenty of time to grieve will its healing forces develop; just as a wound only heals when nature is left to take charge of our body.