Grief changes you. You can let it consume you or you can let it awash your world with positives. What do you choose?
To remain in the shade covered in a sadness?
To allow your heart to crumble when memories take you back?
To listen to the silence and let it remind you that they are no longer there?
It's so easy to let the tears take hold and submerse yourself into a bubble of heartache...
Incredibly easy.
But what does that change? Your heart will still ache regardless.
Step out of the darkness, dance in the light, let laughter consume you... because you can.
You can smile, you can take joy from everyday things that remind you. You can hold onto the memories and let them fill you with appreciation.
You can grasp onto each minute of the day you are given with a lust for the life that you have.
Time is precious and to waste it on sadness is pointless. It's a gift that you should embrace.
Live for those that you have lost.
Seize the day for those that you have lost.
Appreciate everything for those you have lost: the silence, the noise, the darkness and the light, the sadness and the laughter - everything. It's a gift that you have, it's precious.
It does not mean that you should not remember. It just means that you can keep that memory alive in all that you do.
Grief changes you, but that can be for the better.
Turn your grief into happiness and share your appreciation for the world on behalf of those that are nestled in your heart.
Step out of the shade, feel the sunshine for them, dance in the rain for them, smile for them, laugh at the top of your voice for them. Absorb the world for them.
Love for them. That way they'll always be here.
This post was originally published on Family Days Tried and Tested.
Deborah is better known as Mrs FD on her Family Days Tried and Tested Facebook Page where she chats and shares daily about the reality of family life and how to make every day more enjoyable. You can read more by Deborah at familydaystriedandtested.com.