I am not the same...

"I walked a mile with Pleasure;
She chatted all the way;
But left me none the wiser
For all she had to say.

I walked a mile with Sorrow;
And ne’er a word said she;
But, oh! The things I learned from her,
When Sorrow walked with me."
— Robert Browning

This week I ran into an old acquaintance that I worked with during my banking days. This individual  remembers me as an outspoken energetic (hyper) individual with a can do attitude.  He asked me what I was doing with myself and I told him that I took early retirement.  Kidding he laughed at me and indicated that I must be going crazy staying home.  Just the opposite I told him; after losing my son two years ago I look at life differently.  I am no longer that person I once was.

 Grief  changes a person. If you expect to go back to being the same person you were before your loss, you will be disappointed. That person is gone. It might be tempting to look at all the 'bad' ways you've changed (being fearful, sad, diminished, tired). I invite you to look at all the "good" ways you've changed -- and are becoming -- wiser, stronger, more compassionate and more understanding.  My family and friends; helping another is what matters to me.  I am learning to accept the new me.