February 18 2019

This month we’ve spoken about how love heals and is celebrated as we remember our loved ones and care for ourselves. This week, we’re going to talk about recognizing how loss teaches us to love. When we allow ourselves to feel the pain of loss, it helps us find what matters most. In the end, love does. Here these words from Steven C. Hayes Ph.D., in Psychology Today:

The pain of loss is important... It has huge lessons to teach us, and avoidance keeps us from a significant source of wisdom. Pain is really an instructor about caring. It tells us we're vulnerable. We care where we hurt—and we hurt where we care. The gift of pain is a message about what is important in life. It not only tells us how to love; it also provides us with an opportunity to discover sources of strength and flexibility within us that help us prosper. Looking inside the pain expands us, encouraging us to become larger than we are and to live a life of meaning. To open your heart to pain is to open your heart to joy.