Grief can be a real bummer, but if we avoid it it robs us of the opportunity to soften, to understand humanity and the joy of life itself. I’ve been known to avoid it by working, staying busy, trying to be as helpful as I can to people who understand the importance of grieving and are experiencing it.
Whatever works for you and enables you to keep the pain away — that keeps you nicely defined and confident that your life hasn’t just fallen apart — never lasts forever. It is when your disillusion expires, and you finally recognize your loss is real, that softness takes hold and you begin to heal.
Grief helps us understand the finality of our existence, and how much there is left for each and every one of us to do yet. In the words of a Charlotte man who died yesterday:
“You know, everything you do in life, you do for a limited amount of time, and the object is to get everything out of it that you can.”
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