Goodbyes are tough…for most people. But not for me. It’s always been easy for me to up and go, reflect on events and even tragedies, pick up my lessons, and move on. Maybe I take after my mom or guardian, or it runs in the family. Who knows, really.
But there was a time when it was tough. I think only by getting used to it did it become easy. Certainly, moving more than a couple of times, leaving friends behind, and letting go of ‘stuff’ to lighten the load made it easier along the way. The downside is the value and meaning of people and things fade, or at least take longer to mean something. After all, deepening roots and being invested in anything don’t happen instantly, anything worthwhile does take some time.
But I still think it’s worth taking back. After all, learning to value, appreciate and love are correlated to REALLY living. A wake-up call was when I tried to look back at the last 5 years of my life in my early 20s and nothing memorable came to mind. That’s when I knew I had to change things up a bit.
Pretty early on I’ve also come to realize that at least 3 lessons enable maturity, that is, learning to forgive, to let go and to love. The latter speeds up the growing up process but the former two are just as important to adulting. Staring death in the face (thrice) early in life made this crystal clear. In the face of my biological mom in her deathbed who had too many regrets in life, to another who succumbed to cancer peacefully, and then with my best friend passing so soon in life, I became forever changed. At that moment, I think having purpose suddenly became important. Nothing is to be taken for granted.
On a (slightly) lighter note, I’ve learned that happiness is a choice. Whether or not the choice entails leaving a relationship, a toxic environment or even your past behind, or staying knowing or not if there’s hope for change, boils down to a decision. Only after this conscious step can there come peace, acceptance, or at least, resignation.
How about you, what are your biggest life lessons so far?
via Daily Prompt: Retrospective (final)
bernmusings 
Happiness is a choice! Sometimes it takes tragedy to help us appreciate what’s right before our eyes. Thanks so much for sharing 😊
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Thanks for stopping by! 🙂
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‘Goodbyes are tough…for most people. But not for me. It’s always been easy for me to up and go, reflect on events and even tragedies, pick up my lessons, and move on.’ Picking up teh lessons and moving on… I am good at that part. The goodbyes… I hate doing those!!! Goodbyes are necessary evils in order for life to move on- for me. Enjoyed your thoughts!
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Thanks for the invitation! Not pushy at all. Will check it out:)
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