In the living of life, we start to gain a certain amount of wisdom. It accumulates rapidly in the seasons we hate the most, when we are forced to examine our worldviews, and recommit to the things we value the most. Wisdom shapes how we live in the present.

What Christmas means for me

But here’s my argument- If you are struggling to find a therapist who is a good fit, please don’t rule out teletherapy. You might find the ‘distance’ is not as off putting as you think it is.

Any time I lived through a difficult or painful situation and came out okay on the other side, I can tell myself that it can happen again. I can use the history of times I survived the bad thing, or when a situation turned around for the better, as proof that it can happen again.

I honor your journey as you experience these posts, knowing how much courage it takes to pause, reflect, and acknowledge the ways loss has touched your life.

Closure, if ever a real thing, is elusive in a situation that is capable of being understood in two or more possible senses or ways, or when a situation is difficult to discern or categorize.

Compound grief is the accumulation of losses in a short period of time; when you do not have a chance to grieve one loss before another one shows up. It is a form of trauma that I think is not recognized enough. When events overwhelm our ability to cope, we can get stuck in flight, fight, freeze or fawn, hypervigilant or desensitized in ways we are not even aware of.

Yes, you were hurt there. Yes, that was scary and made you feel different from all the other girls. But yes, you were then, and you are now, so loveable and worthy of letting go of this pain. I acknowledge this for you.

Honor whatever it is you have lost by allowing for the bittersweet, and your brain will create new meaning for those anniversaries.

I know He will do great things through me because my prayer, desire in my heart, is to be, my life to be, PROOF of God.

Our brains thrive when exposed to novel experiences. It lights up the parts of our brain that gives us all the good feels, and increases our capacity for memory and learning. Free rewards!!!

Please put one foot on the floor, and follow with a few steps. You do not have to WANT to do it, you do not have to FEEL like it, you just have to give it a chance.

Just be yourself, just tell the truth of who you are and what you know and it’ll be alright.

Whether the background is gray or technicolor, we all need reminders of how powerful we are.

I am not being rejected, it’s what I am offering that isn’t being selected, and while that belief doesn’t completely eradicate my feelings of sadness over the loss, it doesn’t make me beat myself up or question my worth.

We can do the hard things, become who we want to be, and make a huge difference in this world.

Reflection on the Service Members that I have had the privilege to know in my lifetime.

I am in love with this image I have of my future self showing up in this world with only love. Then I can truly be of service.

If I honor me, I honor you. If I honor me, we all are glad. That’s the vison.

I promise you, you have done the same thing a thousand times, and probably weren’t even aware of your own adaptability and strength