The pain of leaving ....

[majestyjo]

Each Day a New Beginning

The pain of leaving those you grow to love is only the prelude to understanding yourself and others. --Shirley MacLaine

Life is a process of letting go, letting go of conditions we can't control, letting go of people--watching them move out of our lives, letting go of times, places, experiences. Leaving behind anyone or anyplace we have loved may sadden us, but is also provides us opportunities for growth we hadn't imagined. These experiences push us beyond our former selves to deeper understandings of ourselves and of others.

So often those experiences that sadden us, that trigger pain, are the best lessons life is able to offer. Experiencing the pain, surviving the pain that wrenches us emotionally, stretches us to new heights. Life is enriched by the pain. Our experiences with all other persons thereafter are deeper. Instead of dreading the ending of a time, the departure of a loved one, we must try to appreciate what we have gained already and know that life is fuller for it.

Today will bring both goodbyes and hellos. I can meet both with gladness.

[caressa222]

Letting go is not easy. We can know we need to, but we really don't do it well. Thank God for my God who can and will do it for me. I just have to acknowledge and then put in a request, and although I don't like the phrase, "act as if" and soon you will find yourself not carrying a heavy burden around.