You’ve heard the saying “There’s only two guarantees in life, paying taxes and death”? Well I will challenge that saying…there’s only one guarantee in life, change.
Life is in a constant flux of change. No matter how much we think we have it figured out, no matter how much control we erroneously think we have, life will always change and make us change with it.
When we got married, we thought we would have kids right away. We didn’t know at the time that we would encounter fertility issues.
When we tried for years to get pregnant and couldn’t, we didn’t know that God would send us two babies that needed us.
When we thought our family was complete, we didn’t know that God was about to surprise us with our youngest boy!
When we thought our Moms would be with us for many more years, we didn’t know God would call them home so soon. Or so closely together.
Life is always changing. God has a plan. His plan will not follow your plan.
When life (or God) sends something your way that causes your life to change for either good or not so good, find the silver lining in it. What are you supposed to be learning from this experience? How can you use this to be better or to help someone else.
Losing so many family members in the last few years was a horrible life changing experience. One I do not want to repeat any time soon. As heart wrenching as that was (and still is at times) I have learned things.
I learned that I’m stronger than I ever thought possible. I learned that I am a lot more like my mother than I thought. I learned that through my empathy I can help others who are going through similar grief. I learned how much and how deeply I love my family. I learned that death can change relationships in the blink of an eye.
I learned to grieve.
I’ll say it again….I learned to grieve.
Again, not a lesson I wanted to learn. But learn it I did. It was tough. It’s ok to cry and to do it in the most gut tearing way. To cry out, to be angry, to pray out loud and to cry so hard you’ve got nothing left.
It changes you. It forces you to adjust every aspect of your life, if only a little bit.
I am a planner. I have an old school calendar and every item in our life is written in it. But the only guarantee, is that in one instant, it can all change. So I can either be upset about it or I can learn from it.
Wonder which one I will do?
My Journey’s My Own 