Will grief inspire or pull you under?
In the midst of an intense season, a friend died. One of those friends who used to be a big part of my life but we had lost touch. One of those friends who you bump into and say, “we need to catch up” and never do. Do you have those friends? The emotions and grief of this loss and the funeral brought a dark tide. That tide had already been lapping up my legs and rising with a to do list and big life events adding buckets to it. This threatened to raise that tide over my head. Processing through these feelings and what was spoken about at the funeral, I have come to the realisation that I can either let this grief pull me under or use it to inspire me to return to living a full life. When someone your age leaves this earth, it brings your own mortality close. Do I want my recent days to be my lasting legacy? What is it that I truly value in life? Do I keep doing the same things day in and day out or do I take the next brave step? I want my life to inspire others.
This post was written as part of Five Minute Friday, where writers set a timer for five minutes and write on a prompt without editing. This week’s word was “inspire”. You can read other writers’ thoughts on this prompt here.
5 Comments
Katha
Jo, sorry for your loss. May you experience this grieving process as healing and inspiring for the future, however long it may take. Blessings to you!
Mari-Anna Frangén Stålnacke
The only way I can continue after hard losses is to give them to God and let him carry the sorrow for me. And he even creates something beautiful out of them. Thanks for sharing. Blessings to you!
Heidi
This resonates with me, as I recently experienced it too.
Thank you. x
Susan Shipe
Oh sweet Jo, let this tragedy inspire you to live life at its fullest with your beautiful family. Prayers, my friend.
Tara Ulrich
Grief is a fickle thing. I agree with Susan, let this grief move you to live life to the fullest. I'm in the 7 spot this week.