A Little Reminder

I overheard my mom talking on the phone once when I was little.  “She lost her mother this year,” my mother said.  I didn’t know who she was talking about but the statement had a profound impact on me.  It was the first time I ever considered that someone – an adult, no less – could be affected by something for a whole year.  And I understood that my mother was trying to encourage the person on the other end of the phone to be a little softer and a little more forgiving of the other person’s behavior.

I started writing this post last October but never published it.  Then last week I remembered it and thought it worth coming back to.  It reminds me to try to be a little less judgmental of and a lot more compassionate to myself and to others.  Time moves so fast sometimes, it’s hard to keep in mind that we’re all constantly working through past sadness, suffering, grief, loss and challenge.  Healing is a process; it doesn’t happen overnight and I guess it isn’t supposed to.

[posted by Lauren]