Sticks and Stones

Nuggets, times are going to come in your lives where you feel really sad, and there's not necessarily a pin-point-able reason for it. There are periods of life where things are just sad. It might be sadness directly related to your life journey. Maybe you will be struggling with your spouse, children, finances, education, career. Maybe a friend will betray you or hurt you. Maybe you will be grieving the loss of someone who mattered to you.

There might come across your radar times where nothing in your personal journey is hard, but those you love are walking some horrific journeys themselves and you can't fix it. You will be helpless to their pain and that hurts. Especially if they are journeys that you relate to oh so specifically. If they are hurts that you've healed from and you remember, you empathize with, the path that they are being forced to walk down.

One of the big life lessons that I hope I can impart to you, my Nuggets, is this: sadness isn't something to fear. It isn't necessarily something to medicate, even though society will most likely tell you otherwise. Sadness should be embraced. We should give ourselves permission to grieve. We reject it all too often here in America, especially in the Christian realm. We have convinced ourselves that life should be happy, candy, la la la lovely all. the. time. This is ludicrous. Unrealistic. Impossible to attain. And then we beat ourselves up all the more for failing to force ourselves to be what someone else has decided we should be.

Grief has a very appropriate place in our realm. Grief can be horrific, but it can also be beautiful. Don't be afraid of it. Don't be afraid to mourn. Loving people means that you will experience these periods of hurt. You have to be brave enough, and strong enough, to recognize that loved ones are worth your sadness. And recognize in advance that when you open your self up to love others, their grief will become your grief. Their loneliness, will become yours. It has to. Otherwise you don't love them.

I hope you understand that when you experience your own personal journeys of strife, my soul will be grieving with you. You will never be alone in your sorrow. It's part of my Mommy super powers. I will sit in the pit with you, soak up the mud, and wait with you until you are ready to walk out on your own. I will always be your advocate. Even if that looks like me sitting there silent with you, while you scream and shout and cry. Even if that forces me into a helpless stance while I watch you embark on a journey that I oh so sympathize with.

Always understand this, about me, my Nuggets: I am not afraid of your grief. I am strong enough to hold it. You will always be worth my sadness. You will always have my platform of love to jump off of. Always.