Life gives us pain. Our job is to experience it when it gets handed to us. - David Kessler

One night I happened to come upon a documentary called Facing the Storm, about the buffalos in Montana. Robert Thomson of the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks discussed how buffalo run into the storm, thus minimizing how long they will be in it. They don't ignore it, run from it, or just hope it will go away, which is what we often do when we want to avoid our storms of emotion. We don't realize that by doing this we're maximizing our time in the pain. The avoidance of grief will only prolong the pain of grief. Better to turn toward it and allow it to run its natural course, knowing that the pain will eventually pass, that one of these days we will find the love on the other side of pain.

The families of soldiers who are missing in action are often wrenched by decades of living in limbo. And years later, those left behind still haven't resolved their losses and may not be able to do so until they learn the truth. But that information may never come. Being in limbo of loss, is itself a loss.

Whatever thoughts you water are the thoughts that will grow.