Not Defined by Grief, Changed by Grief

 

 

I found this quote on Pinterest tonight and it really caught my attention.  I think because grief is so painful and difficult the tendency is to focus on "getting through it."  What really hit me when I read this quote tonight was the reality that there cannot be a goal to "get through it and move on."  Rather it is taking the time to experience the grief and allow it to change you.  Grief is going to change you regardless of what you do; however, how you experience grief affects how it changes you.  If I had chosen to stuff my grief down inside me and not allowed myself to experience emotions, I would have deadened emotions as if I allowed any emotions it would cause all the stuffed ones to come exploding out.  I have learned that expressing those emotions and facing them has made me more sensitive to others, especially others in the grief journey.   My prayer is that this grief journey changes me in positive ways.  In time grief will have become a part of me, who I am at the core.  This is not to say that grief will define who I am, but it will change who I become.