Hope.... Hold On, Pain Eases...

When you are grieving, sometimes having hope simply means the holding onto the belief that one day your pain will ease, a belief that you won't always have the heart shredding, debilitating pain that you currently live with. Sometimes hope is simply believing that one day things will be better.

Even though you might not feel any hope or progress in feeling better as you are grieving, just know that if you actively work through your grief one day at a time, the pain will ease over time. Don't be mistaken, grief is work. It's not just a feeling or a concept. It's a process that you engage and work through. Every tear, every written word, every spoken word, every book and article read, every visit to the cemetery, every candle lit, every interaction in a grief group, every sad song tearfully sung, every moment spent looking at pictures in photo albums, every act of creation that is driven by your sorrow, you are working through your grief. It doesn't feel healing, but one day it will be noticeable to you that the pain is not as intense, that you can breathe easier and smile without gut wrenching pain.

Try to not focus on being healed of grief, rather consider it a success at the end of each day if you've done something to honor your grief. Grief, after all, is our outward expression of love towards the one/ones we are missing so desperately. Please hold on, in time the pain eases.