Sadness

Paraphrased from a passage from "The Language of Letting Go", written by Melody Beattie.

   Ultimately,to grieve my losses means to surrender to my feelings.
   I have lost so much, have said so many goodbyes,have been through so many changes. I want to hold back the tides of change,not because the change isn't good,but because I have had so much change,so much loss.
   Sometimes,when I am in the midst of pain and grief,I become shortsighted, like the members of a tribe described in a story.
   "If you put them in prison," one person said, describing this tribe, "they die."
   "Why?"asked another.
   "Because they can't grasp the idea that they'll be let out one day. They think it's permanent, so they die."
   I have had so much grief to go through. Sometimes I thought that I believed that grief or pain was a permanent condition.
   The pain will and is stopping. Once felt and released,my feelings bring me to a better place than where I started. Feeling my feelings,instead of denying or minimizing them,is how I heal from my past and move forward into a better future.
   Feeling my feelings is how I let go.
   It may hurt for a moment,but peace and acceptance are on the other side. So is a new beginning.