No two people will feel the same pain. For nearly 30-years as a NYS EMT I always asked my patients, as we were all trained to do, "on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the worst pain you ever felt, how bad is your pain?"
The real truth is that one person's "6" may be another person's "10" while someone's "8" barely gets a "2" elsewhere. It doesn't matter, it's all PAIN. As 1st responders we needed to know how the patient was managing the pain, was it getting worse or was it (hopefully) getting better?
It's the same with emotional pain, how we deal with it is individual. Two widows after losing their mates of many years will react differently and neither way is wrong or right. The same goes for other personal tragedies and losses, we all have to find our own ways to cope.
For some people the return to "normal" life takes longer than others, and for some the return never seems to happen. Is it wrong for a young mother to still cry years after a miscarriage, even when she has other children? Or for a man in his 50's to be angry after being hustled out of a long time job he's held for years?
Human reactions are just that... human - and they are personal.
Somewhere down the line though we do need to regain some living potential again no matter how deep the wounds are. We need to allow ourselves the chance to heal even if it means we never lose our scars. Yes, there are people around us that need us to LIVE again, but we owe it to ourselves not to waste away.
A good friend of mine likes to say "Just put one foot in front of the other..." Healing is a process and no one expects you to ignore the wound or the scars it leaves. But if you let bitterness consume you or never stop crying, think of how much you will continue to lose.
It is so much harder than just these words, but somehow you have to find a way of focusing on what you still have whether they are memories or other loved ones. Whatever is in your past has made you who you are today and who you are is important, don't throw it away.
When I feel down and mourn loved ones no longer here (physically) I remind myself of the 5 of Cups Tarot Card and realize that I need to focus on the positives in my life.
When my paternal grandfather died and I saw my dad crying I swore to him that I never wanted to grow up because growing up meant people got old and died. After laughing and calling me Peter Pan, he told me that yes, people do die but he was very glad to have grown up, met my mom and had my sister and me. He made me see that life is always giving us new things and we should never ignore the new joys. Years later I miss my parents very much, but I take such joy in my own husband and children. Daddy was right, I would never want to miss out on the life I have now.
I've been told that I have a Pollyanna outlook on life and that I am always looking for the bright side. In reality, I just want to live.
"I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me
and 90% of how I react to it."
~ Charles R. Swindoll
and 90% of how I react to it."
~ Charles R. Swindoll
The Five of Cups is a Tarot card that signifies difficulty, loss, and the challenges of dealing with that loss. The figure in the card wears a black cloak in which he hides his face in apparent despair. At his feet are five cups, three of which have fallen and spilled onto the ground and the other two behind his back remain standing. He does not seem to notice these upstanding cups because he is so focused on the fallen cups instead. Ahead of him a powerful river flows between himself and a castle or home in the distance. To his right is a bridge that can lead him to the security of the house across the river. Despite the fact that this card has a strong indication of loss and tribulation, there is a positive aspect that must be considered. Is your cup half full or half empty?
3 comments:
Thank you for this.
Incredibly beautiful post. I used to have great difficulty falling asleep in my own room as a child because I feared losing the people I deeply loved one day when I grew up. Years later, a close friend introduced me to Pollyanna during one of our conversations and the Pollyanna syndrome stuck :-) 3 good things. There's always at least 1. And we never really lose anyone or anything precious in life. They become part of us forever because of the mark they leave on our souls.
So true Serene, I will always have the memories of those I've been fortunate to have in my life; often when I am in a quandry I ask "What would Daddy/Mommy do?" and I allow the influence they had on me to guide me.
Surprisingly even the people who have disappointed me in the past have taught me lessons that help me through my present and when I can acknowledge that, I lose any of that thieving bitterness.
Always look forward to the things that are yet to come.
Post a Comment