Tag Archives: loss

Learning about Myself

There are a variety of experiences a person goes through in the course of life. I have been through many different things, being very fortunate to meet and know many people and to visit some places.  Most of our experiences are similar, for the most part, and yet we still have a hard time talking about some things which cause us pain and heartbreak.  These are the things we have difficulty telling anyone.  The emotions are hidden, been too far inside.  It is time to recognize each and let them all go.

Sadness

One of our staple emotions is sadness. We feel this all the time, from the loss of something in many phases of our lives. But if you acknowledge your grief and say it out loud to people, you are perceived as weak and undesirable.  This fear has caused me to hide my sadness whenever it has arisen.  Push it aside, hold it down where nobody can see it, and it will go away. As if by magic.  For these reasons, sadness is uncomfortable and makes you feel there is something wrong with handling it.

The emotions we try to bury will always rise back to the surface, like a diver coming back up for air; these emotions will charge again to our consciousness at some point.  Often when you would least expect it. They come when any event has any remote to connect with a past sad event.  I have had tears rise to the surface saying good night to someone because it reaches into the experience of permanent loss I have felt earlier in life.  Sometimes it comes when you look at who you are, and it doesn’t match up with what you perceive others to think of you.  Being sad is a part of life. It provides the contrast to joy, which gives power and desirability to that emotion. There would be no joy if there were not any sadness.  It seems we should be more willing to talk about that.

I Hate Loss

As a child, I never liked the idea of loss.  When you have a thing, then you no longer have this thing. It is a part of life to learn to deal with the grief associated with a loss, but often, we are instructed as young men to “toughen up,” and as an adult signature on the path of life, I should have a higher handle on the losses.  But it still hurts when things and people are removed from my life. It can be a break-up, a job change, the passing of a loved one, or any loss of something once here that is now gone.

We all desire life to be controllable, predictable, and in our control.  Life will never be one of these things, and loss comes to us because we forget this hard truth.  That is why my goal is to enjoy everything that happens and not to build an attachment to that thing.  Events, ideas, and people will come into your life and deposit what you need to learn. Some will stay for the whole story, but most are just there for a chapter or two. Make those chapters the best they can be, and then turn the page and allow the following stages to come to you.  Losing things and people happen more and more as you get older; learning to deal with this process in a healthy manner is one of the most significant challenges we all face.

I Don’t Forget

One of my weaknesses hinders me from dealing appropriately with the last two things in my memory. It has a grasp of the times I enjoy that I can’t escape. If my thoughts are left to run on their own, to those happy things, they will run.  What is the harm in this? You ask. Our minds are a great tool but inaccurate. They remember things in a way that is not the most accurate—often stressing the good and moving the bad or painful to the background.  Soon we are nostalgic for past experiences and places, and those memories are false, and we remember things from our perspective.

There are many things, especially time spent with people, I never want to forget. No matter what happened, positive or negative, the value of that person is something you hold onto because you want to remember the places you went, the things you shared, and even if you got lost on the way, were late. The park closed before you got there, and it was still a valuable, memorable experience.  The problem exists because looking to the past brings a natural feeling of regret, which is not going to do you any good.  It is impossible, in my experience, to move forward until you put your past clearly and completely behind you.  Hold your memories in your heart, but don’t visit them; it is an unhealthy pastime.

There are many other things I cannot talk about, like love, hurting, disappointment, etc.  But this is an excellent place to start. The hard truth is that we all have these disturbing things inside us.  They are leftovers of our past, as far back as our childhoods.  They are essential because our subconscious mind uses this programming to run our lives when we are not paying attention to the events in front of us.

The trick, I think, is to learn to let the energy of the negative emotions pass through us and face our pain from the past.  Let the sadness move through us and pass away.  The fear of loss can cause many problems, but you can learn to master it by understanding that nothing lasts forever. Nothing.  We are just passengers on this planet for a short time, and our ultimate joy and enjoyment of life will come from how we live in every moment—putting the regrets of the past behind us and worries about the future,  which will cause anxiety, out of our minds.

 

Both Sides Now

the flip side of lifeWouldn’t it be nice if all we had to deal with in our lives was a success in all we do and happiness in all experiences? I think everyone would feel the same way, no sadness, loss, or grief, just happy things that are easy to deal with, yet we all know that life isn’t going to come as quickly as that. We all must go through some difficult times, and I think that is OK because you will never appreciate the good in life unless there is the opposite aspect to compare it to in life. There is always a flip side. How do you know that life is giving you what you need now? You are experiencing it. Please take a moment and focus your conscious thought on this very thought of how opposites teach you lessons and see what words and actions arise from it. It will probably be a better version of yourself, and you will value the joyous times and good experiences all the more when they happen.

Sunshine and Rain

No matter what your preferred weather is, there is difficulty enjoying it thoroughly without having experienced the opposite of your desired temperature. For me, it is the weather of the fall in the northeast.

sunshine without rainWe are blessed with pleasant temperatures and cooler weather at night, which is perfect for sleeping. Each day it seems that there is a different and wondrous color scheme on display. Fall has a feeling in your heart that you can’t explain, feel. Yet the appreciation I have for this season is deepened by the hot, uncomfortable summer weather and the oncoming extreme cold and snow of winter. Those intense experiences help you tune into the perfection of September/October that you are experiencing in the perfect dance of autumn.

If the weather were as you like, all of the time, you would eventually find that you lose the special appreciation you have for it. It would be more difficult at any rate to find that appreciation for the beautiful autumn days, and they would be “days.”

I think this is true about all things in life. We need to have what we don’t want to know what we do want and, more importantly, appreciate it when it is in our lives and seek it out daily if you can.

Being Alone Leads To Growth

Most people long for comfort and company, yet many have this in their lives and manage to throw it away because of a bit of moment or slight that they perceive. If you

have ever been without someone who “gets you” and is forced to live your life truly on lonely makes you appreciate relationshipsyour own, then it is difficult to appreciate it when you have that connection partner in your life.

You would be much less likely to throw that relationship away if you knew what real loneliness felt like inside. The warmth of happiness and connection should stop people from cheating and taking their partners for granted.   The opposite side of this coin would help many a relationship find its way through rough waters.

Empathy for another and understanding the feelings, dreams, and ideas that make someone else tick is, to me, one of the most critical features of any relationship. It allows you to understand and be understood, give accordingly, and receive. When empathy is gone, and people start worrying about their own needs without concern for the needs of the other, trouble is not far away.

Sometimes you need to be alone to allow yourself to grow into the person you are meant to become. Much like a seed needs to be in the ground alone, you may need the same situation to allow yourself to grow in understanding and ideas. Life is a tricky game, and none of us have all the answers at the outset. That is why it is so damn impressive. You do not have to be lonely to appreciate the company of others, but it certainly does make it a lot easier to remember and keeps your empathy at the surface.

Loss Makes You Appreciate What You Have

If you have never lost everything, you do not appreciate everything you have quite as much. Everything is a subjective word that can apply to anyone and their situation. You may lose your family, friends, possessions, or guiding principles and strand you in life with no clear guidance or a place to call home.

Whatever it is that you lose, a friend, a family member, a relationship, it is through this loss, you will learn to appreciate what you do have. When you evaluate the things you have lost in your life, remember to include equal time thinking about the good that you have in your life and the appreciation you have for it — practice gratitude to some degree every day.

Sometimes the wounds of the loss are too big, and we can never move past them. Sometimes the pain of loss or the idea of the damage has engulfed us and our identity to the point that we can’t see around it. My experience tells me that once I have let something go, there is an appreciation for the people and things that are in my life that I would never have known.

You don’t have to lose everything to find this appreciation, and you have to look at what you have in your life and be grateful for it.

Seeing the Dark Side

To be human is to possess the ability to be very, very good, but each person also comes equipped with a dark side. Much like Darth Vader in Star Wars, we all have to choose which side of life our thoughts, choices, and actions will take us. There is power in being positive, helpful, honest, kind, and a decent human being society would fall without this attitude is prevalent. But there is a dark side in all of us.

One of the things that make good people so beautiful is that we make a choice each day to be that way. Sometimes, it can be a natural choice to follow the voices of fear and separate, ridicule, lie, gossip, or be selfish. Each of our actions balances out in our vibrational energy and just what you are putting into the world mentally, and with your efforts, you will get back to you. If you are not happy with where you are, look at your mental game and see how it is playing out. Take affirmative action, and positive will happen. Follow the light side of the force.

Look at the Flip Side of Everything

So my final urging is to look at the flip side of everything that you experience each and

Superman is not as great without a villain to compare him to.
Superman is not as great without a Lex Luther to battle against.

every day. Noticing that there is something positive for you to appreciate in every situation. Enjoy moments of downtime as well as deserved respites from the whir of activity that often rules your life.

Appreciate the moments of being by yourself as opportunities to grow. Nobody knows who you will end up with, but remember that making yourself the best person you can, will bring the person into your life who will make you better. With the heart-wrenching bitterness that death and loss of a loved one get to your life, there is an appreciation for those you live with still that can envelop your heart and touch your soul if you look for them.

That is why we should always look for and appreciate the flip side of the coin because we would never understand the value of moments in our lives without it. Light without darkness, happiness without sadness, love without fear, the experiences that we live define us by our ability to appreciate our journeys. 

“Belief systems thrive in circumstances of the collision. Their opposites energize them.”– James P. Carse

“All colors are the friends of their neighbors and the lovers of their opposites.” – Marc Chagall

 

 

David’s Dead

Part 1

David’s Dead

The anticipation of the voice at the other end of the line was immediately crushed as I heard the words, “David’s dead”.  They were flatly spoken and yet the emotion behind them was calling for help.  I had just turned 18 and was dealing with the end of high school, baseball season, a new relationship and looking forward to the rest of my life, but the largest lesson was taught to me with those words, ringing through the telephone.  Paul was dead and my life would never be the same.

huey-lewis-and-the-news-the-power-of-love-1985-4Kristie and I had been classmates all through high school and knew each other in passing. We really didn’t have a lot in common, she was very intelligent, and I was limited in the academic performance that was expected of me.  She had just been accepted to attend Cornell University in the fall and I would be heading to a technical college.  We just traveled in different circles.  But as life will often do we noticed each other one day.  In fact one of the first things I said to her directly was to ask Kristie if she would go to the prom with me.  I was as smooth as sand paper and as nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs but she said yes and that was the beginning of the most important experience in my young life.

As we spent time together it began clear to me that I must have been a total idiot to have missed this charming, beautiful and kind person for almost four years.  It was April and I was having the best conversation of my life.  It was the kind of talk that makes you not want it to end. There were no lulls and each revelation revealed was understood.  I have experienced others which were as good, but honestly none that were any better than talking to Kristie Falls in April of 1985.  I have no recollection of the topic of the conversation just that I looked into her blue eyes and was lost.  I was quickly realizing that I had never been in love before.

It wasn’t long before I was spending all of my time looking for opportunities to spend time with her and we quickly became inseparable. It was the second week of April and we were on the cusp of April vacation, the last blast of freedom before the final quick sprint to graduation and moving on with our lives. The first Saturday night of vacation was the first chance for us to get together and for us to go out with all of our friends. The culture of the time, there were parties at different places, someone’s house if their parents were gone or if not, then at a local beach, or secluded pit.  Needless to say the first Saturday of vacation was a good enough reason for most people in Maine to let loose.  And there were several different parties scheduled for that night.  I would have never imagined that the events of that evening April 13th, 1985 would be permanently embedded in my memory almost thirty years later.

This story is based on real events, the names have been changed, but the events are real. I hope you enjoy part 1.