Monday, June 13, 2016

What Mourning and Loss are Teaching Me About Resilience and Recovery

During the last few months, three family members have been critically ill, and I have been challenged and tested. All three of my dear loved have died, two on the same day and the last on June 2nd.

My heart aches with loss. Yet I am slowly healing and using self-care practices that help me recognize the need to live fully by cutting back on some activities and relying more on others. Meditation, prayer, journal writing, yoga, walking in nature, and limiting outside obligations to a bare minimum all help. Daily living while mourning is a balancing act, one that I review one day at a time.

A life skill I'm using to recover my equilibrium is to record and savor quotations that have meaning for me at this time. Each of the ones I've included in this blog post help my heart stay open for healing and give me hope. The wise words displayed below encouraged me to feel my feelings and let them flow through me, especially when I felt vulnerable, overwhelmed, sad, confused, hurt, angry, or afraid.

Mindfulness is paying attention, on purpose, in the present, and non-judgmentally, to the unfolding of experience, moment by moment ~ Jon Kabat-Zinn




Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever. Mahatma Gandhi




Challenges are gifts that force us to search for a new center of gravity. Don't fight them. Just find a new way to stand. Oprah Winfrey





Don’t let your hearts grow numb. Stay alert. It’s your soul which matters. Albert Schweitzer





Please keep my family in your thoughts and prayers.


Thanks for Your Thoughts and Prayers. They Create Powerful Healing

Perhaps when you are challenged, you'll recall this blog post and these quotations will support you. 


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7 comments:

  1. Dear Nancy, I am sorry for all you have lost and the heartache you are experiencing. May your strength and will see you through the deepest of sorrows, and may you somehow, perhaps miraculously, if that's what it takes, find comfort, heart-sustenance and peace. Thank you for these quotations. They couldn't have come at a better time.

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    1. Thanks Kathryn Grace for your kind words and support. Especially because of recent events, my prayers are for us all.

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  2. Nancy,
    My dear child - I am so very sorry for your loss. I can't imagine losing 3 loved ones at once. Be sure that I will keep you in my prayers and thoughts. Grieving is such a personal experience for everyone. I know when I have lost my father which was very sudden from a gun accident - it was process that took a long time. One day I was okay and the next I couldn't stop the tears. I don't think you ever stop missing your loved ones. I found that trying to remember the good times that were special helped me deal with the pain.
    I believe prayer is very important - it was to me. Finding support from family and friends helps a great deal too.
    I loved your quotations - they were beautiful. I wish I knew what words to say to ease your pain but truthfully I don't. I just hope that you let yourself cry when you need and let the pain of your lost be a remembrance of having the chance to have the special relations with your loved ones.
    Give yourself time to remember the things you shared and be good to yourself.
    Be well and I pray that the angels give you comfort. Let your heart heal as it is able to. Sending my deepest sympathy, comfort, and warmest thoughts your way to help you find your way through the dark days that you probably will experience and let the sunshine come through to warm your heart.

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  3. So sorry for your loss Nancy. Thank you for sharing these quotes. Be well.

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    1. Thanks Krista for your support. Have a good weekend and be well too.

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  4. Hi Nancy,
    This post is so healing for me because I have been mourning my very ill father who is now in hospice for a long time without taking proper care of my mind, body and spirit--and I feel it! Thank you for sharing your own experiences and these inspiring quotes with us at the Healthy Happy Green and Natural Party!Thank you so much for sharing your gems and for your support! All the best, Deborah

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    1. Dear Deborah, Thanks for sharing your experience with mourning. Now I'll be able to keep you and your family in my thoughts and prayers. There is power in community and my healing thoughts are sent with caring and compassion. Nancy A.

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