Simple is Better: We Grieve What We Love
One of the most profound emotions we can experience is deep, honest love.
Think about it. Don’t we all yearn to be loved? To know that someone else cares for us in a very deep and intimate way? Once we experience this love, it becomes something that we yearn for daily. Hourly. Every minute. Because it is so strong, poignant and engulfing. We want our children, grandchildren and other people we respect to know this profound love as well.
Love has one caveat though. If we want deep and intimate love, we open ourselves up to the deepest sense of loss and pain. When we widen our experience and window of love, we also expand the potential for deep and intimate loss and pain as well. If we want great love, then the lid for intense pain and loss is also opened up.
We can’t have one without the other. The more we love, the more we grieve. The more intense the love, the more we open ourselves up for disappointment, heartbreak and loss.
More love means more potential grief. We can’t have one without the other.
Yes, this sounds sad and hard. We wonder whether it’s worth it. Should we allow this intense love in our lives if it also means our capacity and experience of grief will also be exposed?
I pray our answer will always be, “Yes.” Yes, I’ll allow this deep love. Yes, it’s worth it. Yes, yes, yes.
Truth? We grieve what we love. Think about what is most precious to you. The names that pop into your head. The moments in your life that you want to hold onto forever. The times when your heart felt tender. When your heart almost broke because the love was so intense.
If we love these people and moments so intensely, when they are gone, we have now opened up ourselves for the greatest potential sadness and pain. We can’t have one without the other.
Is it worth it? Yes, yes and yes. I want all the wonderful loved-filled moments in life that I can have. I want to know deep and intimate and engulfing love. If this means I am opening myself up to the potential for a similar level of grief, I think it’s worth it. Why? Because love is worth it. I want to experience every range of emotion possible: the good and the challenging. The ones that make me laugh as well as the ones that make me cry.
This is how I know God loves me. Unconditionally and without hesitation. God experienced the greatest pain possible – the loss of his son – for me. If God thought I was worth this, then fully loving others no longer is a question for me.
I just do it.
Yes, this means there will be pain. Loss. Disappointment.
But it is worth it. For me. And I pray it’s worth it for you.
Blessings –
Dianne
Holy God – Thank You for loving me unconditionally. For demonstrating Your deep love for me in the most unimaginable way. May I embrace this love, value it and choose to live it in my life. Amen.
If you’re carrying grief that others may not see, you don’t have to carry it alone.
Join us for Grief with Grace: When Grief is Hidden, a free virtual workshop where we’ll explore hidden grief and make space for healing, understanding, and hope.
Tuesday, October 6 • 6:30 PM CT • Online via Zoom • Free
Come as you are. 💙
Comments