Grief?

Grief is an ugly friend; she simply is not nice.
She shows her head when you least expect,
stays longer than you want,
doesn't say much though takes a lot.
About the time she is gone for good,
she comes back,
worse than a bad penny.

We as humans love experiencing the fun parts of life,
the livelihood, the laughter.
We can even handle the sadness, assuming it doesn't stay too long.

But Grief?  Who wants...to...even acknowledge that?
Why does grief come?
When will it go away?
And for good?

Grief is associated with more than the loss of a loved one.
Grief can be part of a move,
a job change,
even for the better.
Happy events can cause grief,
sometimes while celebrating with one loved one,
we remember another loved one that is not there.
Saying good-bye to a job we do not like,
we still have to say good-bye no doubt, to parts
that
we did like.

Grief is not nice,
though necessary.
For it gives us time to process our feelings,
our thoughts.

It gives us the okay to feel bad,
to cry,
to mourn,
to yell,
to feel ugly.

Do we not deserve this time?
To recouperate,
to rejuivinate,
after all we've given?


To be fully human,  to be fully alive.
To be fully "here," in the now, instead of in the past.
To be fully alive, we must have all feelings -
the good, the bad,
the ugly, the sad,
on board.

We can't experience grief,
if we are running from it.

We must feel the feelings of sadness,
of grief,
of anger,
of loneliness,
to fully feel the feelings of love,
giving,
contentment.

Grief.