A major loss can turn a person's world upside down and inside out leaving you spinning like a top, stunned, bewildered and in shock. The world as you knew it no longer exists. The sun is shining, the traffic keeps moving, and children are playing; yet you are deadened to the sights and sounds of life all around you. You move within your familiar sphere of the world, but are no longer a participant. You have become an observer on the outside looking in- a robot moving without awareness.
Major losses can come from many different situations: the death of a beloved spouse or long awaited child, a teen gone astray, an ending to a marriage, a dream that has lost its potential, a major mistake resulting in a prison sentence. Such losses produce the same result: life as it was will never be again. Life is more than a home, a career, or things. It is relationships and love and hopes and dreams. When those have been stripped from you, your world becomes empty and barren, devoid of pleasure and comfort.
Yet within those losses, we can move towards a new beginning. As you work through the pain and uncertainity, God will meet you there and guide you gently through the dark canyons and long dry deserts of the soul. And just as physical wounds heal heart wounds will also heal. Although the journey may seem endless, we will discover along the way new ways to experience peace and even joy. As we move through this journey of grief and loss, reach out to others and up to God, grab hold of hope and hang on. God will sustain you. You can heal and recover.
Marlene Anderson, MA, LMHC, NCC
copyright 2010
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