Breathe, stretch, and release all of the pain from yesterday— today is a new day. The sting of grief will start to fade as the morning turns to afternoon and eventually to night. A fresh start, a normal day, not one clouded by a holiday that brings you heartbreak, while bringing the rest of the world joy and love.
Own this day and this new moment. Use it to find the strength you’ve hidden away and the resilience you’ve forgotten belongs to you. When you feel like you can’t survive the permanence of her absence remind yourself of the permanence of her love and influence. It lessens the ache.
Remember that you are not alone, even when it feels like it. There are others out there just like you— women and men who walk with a forever absence while still trying to live with meaning, purpose and happiness. There are others who recognize your broken parts just by looking at you. It’s easy to recognize grief in others when you carry it with you each day like a shadow and unwanted companion.
The heaviness you feel on celebratory days can sometimes lead to emotional hangovers–exhausted from holding the consequences of loss. Homesick for a person not a place. Head spinning from a reality you wish you’d wake up from, unable to get your grounding because the foundation was ripped from underneath you.
Breathe and keep breathing. You can and will survive this day, after all you survived the painful one before it. You are a grief warrior.
Breathe, stretch and release the grief and trauma from yesterday. Slowly the world, and the stores that fill it, will move on to the next holiday and the next event. You’ll be able to walk in and complete your tasks without big, bold, vibrant reminders of what you’ve lost. You’ll still get reminders but they won’t decorate every portion of the places you visit.
Own this day. Use it to find the courage you’ve hidden away and the hope you’ve forgotten belongs to you. When you feel like you can’t survive the permanence of her absence remind yourself of the permanence of her love and legacy. It lessens the ache.
Today is a new day and while you’ll still hold grief, heartbreak and loss…you don’t have to experience an entire day dedicated to mothers again until next year.
Breathe friend. You made it through Mother’s Day. You can make it through anything.
