Many of you have written to me (either by posting comments or sending emails) about ways you’ve coped with pain and grief in the past. It’s been so helpful, I wanted to open up a discussion thread to share some of this wisdom with everyone. From any setbacks, large and small, what do you tell yourself to get back up?
Photo: Tim Green
Feel everything, remember everything. Sadness, happiness, loneliness, anger, thankfulness, disappointment, understanding, misunderstanding, but the most important is the love that was shared.
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Take everything day by day, minute by minute if you have to. Claim your victories, no matter how small (I showered and got dressed today!).
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I never would have made it – any of it – without mother nature. “ Into the forest I go . . . “
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I lost a dear friend just over 5 years ago to suicide. Her husband, who is one of the more incredible people I’ve met, spent several weeks in the PNW hiking, mostly in solitude. He met a man there, however, who shared a piece of wisdom that has stuck with me: The hole in your heart will never go away. It will be there forever. What you can do, however, is grow your heart bigger so that the hole doesn’t feel so big anymore.
Perhaps it sounds trite or maybe impossible, but I like to think that we can all constantly be growing our hearts. It doesn’t mean we heal (how can you ever?) but it does mean we love more fiercely.
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Not a Doctor 
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