Keep Moving

My Pebs on his 1st birthday. Mr. ONEderful.

I have the responsibility-and the power-to keep my life moving. -Martha W. Hickman

The first few days, weeks, and months after a tragic loss, there are loved ones surrounding you. They help keep you going. They bring food, help clean your house, feed your animals, take kids to school and sport functions. They keep you company, hear your stories of the one that just passed away, and bring some solace and comfort during the cloudy, foggy days. However, they, too, have a life they have to get back to and you are left with trying to figure out your new “normal.” When the house begins to be less chatty and silence over comes it, fear and pain grip at your inner soul. How will I live? How can I do this life? You understand that people can’t stay in your home forever, and yet, a big part of you wishes life never keeps moving forward. In a way, you desire this “stand still” of a life rather than it keep moving. Oh, if only there was a way to stop time or even turn it back to when we had our loved ones with us. But reality has set in and you now are required to keep moving with it. You can’t stop time. You can’t reverse it. You have to keep moving. We feel immobilized, at first, but slowly and clumsily, we take our first few steps into this moving new life. You find places and groups that understand your grief. Grief support groups, church, maybe new artistic ventures are all areas where you can share your loved one and keep their memory alive while doing the unavoidable task of moving forward. Living without your loved one seems impossible, almost unfair, but choosing to move isn’t a betrayal to your loved one. It is a necessity for your loved ones that are still present on this Earth to see and experience a different “you.”

“To keep a lamp burning we have to keep putting oil in it.” -Mother Teresa

How will you keep your lamp burning? We need to find healthy, positive sources of energy, love, comfort, strength, and peace. Everyone will have different avenues, but the important thing is to keep fueling your lamp, to keep moving forward. You will never know where it will lead you. Just keep moving. Just Go, Go, Go!