The Importance of Grieving: Parting is a Part of Life

"Everyone who lives long enough to love deeply will experience great losses. Don't let fear of loss or the losses themselves take away your ability to enjoy the wonderful life that is yours." - Barbara Cooper

The path of life is sometimes smooth, and sometimes rocky. You always seem to leave something behind. You always seem to travel with a suitcase in your hands. Parting is an integral part of the journey. It is often painful, but it can also be joyful at times. 

When you leave something behind, it is not just the end. It is also a new beginning. Grieving helps you come to terms with unbearable losses and difficult situations. Eventually, acceptance sets in, even though nothing is ever forgotten. Your loved ones will always stay with you. There will always be a place for them in your heart. 

Eventually, you move on, and the lighter you travel, the easier the transition will be. After a separation or a divorce for instance, there is a lot of hurt. Unresolved emotions can become permanent wounds. If you don’t allow these to heal, you will go into a new relationship, loaded with baggage that might sabotage your new-found happiness.

Pain is inevitable, but suffering is optional. You can dwell on the past, or you can look at it as an opportunity for growth, and decide to close this chapter of your life, while eagerly looking forward to the next one.

You don’t only leave loved ones or relationships behind. You can leave anything, even a state of mind. From this day onward, you can decide to change. you can decide to be more acceptant, more grateful for what you’ve got, while going with the flow, instead of fighting against what is. You can become less set in your ways, less demanding, more flexible and more relaxed. You can decide to leave fear behind once and for all, trust the future and embrace love and forgiveness. What happened yesterday doesn’t matter any more. Today you want to be here, and enjoy this very moment to the fullest.

Parting can be as simple as moving houses or going away on a holiday, or as complex as our final departure: death. You will go through your share of parting in life. How you deal with it will transcend this experience in your mind and in your heart. Ultimately, your attitude reflects what kind of parting it will be, and you can react to it with sadness or serenity.

With much love,

Bella

Painting: "Woman with Suitcase. Departure" by Katie Phillips

Why is it so Important to Have Hope?

"Hope is important because it can make the present moment less difficult to bear. If we believe that tomorrow will be better, we can bear a hardship today." - Thich Nhat Hanh

Life is full of ups and downs, and when sadness replaces the joy you once had, that's when hope becomes essential. Hope is trusting that things can only get better, no matter how gloomy they look right now. You need hope;  you can't live without it. You are the engine; hope is the fuel, and patience is the oil.  Form a positive image in your mind of the happy ending you wish for, and cling to it no matter what. 

Hope is an uplifting emotion. It pulls you up from disappointment, depression and despair. To cultivate hope, firmly believe that everything that happens to you is for your ultimate good. This becomes evident as you look back on your life and are able to see patterns more clearly. Retrospectively, you can understand the meaning of certain events offering lessons in disguise. 

Hope emerges when you realise that you can't do everything on your own. You need to depend more fully on your Higher Power. God will come to you during your darkest moments and whisper "hope" in your ear. This is your opportunity to allow Him into your heart and find the peace that was eluding you.

Stop fighting so hard. Allow the Divine hand to lift you up and guide you through the maze of your life, with all its endless twists and turns. Allow the Divine to help you with little things, as well as important decisions. Relax into the present moment. Cultivate hope like a delicate flower, and allow God to take over for you. 

With all my love, 

Bella 

"Yes, my soul, find rest in God;

my hope comes from Him. 

Truly He is my rock and my salvation; 

He is my fortress, I will not be shaken." - Psalm 62: 5-6

Painting: "Blue Orchid" by Li-Soro

Start Every Day with Hope in your Heart...

"There is a crack, a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in." - Leonard Cohen (Anthem - from his album The Future).

Let the light come in through the cracks of your being. Allow the positive energy of HOPE to infuse you today. Bask in it, bathe in it, let it penetrate every pore of your skin.

Hope is at your fingertips. Forget your regrets about yesterday, and forget your worries about tomorrow. Become totally lost in the present. That's where your point of power is, right here, in the now.

Every day brings with it unlimited possibilities, new challenges and choices that are yours to make. Allow the grace and beauty of a new sunrise to touch your soul. Remove your shackles; let go of yesterday's sadness and grief. There is so much love and joy around you, but it's up to you to allow them into your experience.

Hope is an expectation in our heart of good things to come. No matter what problem you're facing right now, you know that it will get better. you trust the world to be on your side and give you the answers you need. You trust that no matter how desperate a situation is, improvement is always possible. You trust that after the rain, there will be sunshine again.

Hope is a burning flame that will never go out. Hope is life itself. It's what keeps you going, no matter what you're going through! Your wishes are there to come true. Eventually, what you pray for will become a reality...

With much love,

Bella

"God is a shower to the heart burned up with grief. God is a sun to the face deluged with tears." - Joseph Roux, Meditations of a Parish Priest.

Painting: "Sunrise" by Margret Hofheinz-Doring, 1910-1994, German.