I had a conversation with someone recently about how chronic health issues have affected their lives. Where we landed was in the fact that they are, and life is, completely altered from how it was before getting sick. The grief associated with this is real, powerful, and ongoing. And not unlike grief from loss of a loved one.
There are never any remedies for these struggles. There is, however, a certain freedom that comes from facing what is true and then determining how to respond to whatever it is that is going on. This will not always be without pain. I think anyone who is reading this page knows well that pain is part of the story of grief. But pain is amplified when we measure how we are doing now against how things used to be.
What used to be… that is what is grieved, as well as our ideas for how things were supposed to be in the future.
What is… this is where choice comes in. Choice within whatever reality we are living with.
It’s heroic, really. All of us walking around, making choices about how we are going to respond to the hands we have been dealt.
Have you been changed by your experiences?
What choices will you make today that honor your reality and your courage?
The Long Grief Journey 
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