Relationships reflect to us who we are on the inside. They show us so many things about our inner beliefs that we may or may not want to see.
When a relationship ends, we often experience grief as a natural matter of course. While on one hand, we could allow ourselves to focus on the ending, we can also choose to see this as a great opportunity for learning.
After a relationship ends, we can discover our weaknesses, as well as our strengths. We can discover our wounds as well as where we have healed. We can discover where we are willing to compromise as well as where we will no longer. In essence, we can discover many aspects of ourselves.
Then we can take these lessons forward into our current and future relationships.
May we all find peace, even where we had been previously hurt, so that we may learn from our past and not be condemned to repeat it in the future.
After composing most of this piece, a friend posted this related article about complaining, that you might find interesting.
The poem that inspired today’s blog:
“After A While”
After a while you learn
the subtle difference between
holding a hand and chaining a soul
and you learn
that love doesn’t mean leaning
and company doesn’t always mean security.
And you begin to learn
that kisses aren’t contracts
and presents aren’t promises
and you begin to accept your defeats
with your head up and your eyes ahead
with the grace of woman,
not the grief of a child
and you learn
to build all your roads on today
because tomorrow’s ground is
too uncertain for plans
and futures have a way of falling down
in mid-flight.
After a while you learn
that even sunshine burns
if you get too much
so you plant your own garden
and decorate your own soul
instead of waiting for someone
to bring you flowers.
And you learn that you really can endure
you really are strong
you really do have worth
and you learn
and you learn
with every goodbye, you learn…
~ 1971, Veronica A. Shoffstall.
Photo by Theeradech Sanin at freedigitalphotos.net
