HUG Corner: Thought for the Week 6/3/19

June 3, 2019

Healing After Loss (Martha Whitmore Hickman)

“Definite work is not always that which is cut and squared for us, but that which comes as a claim upon the conscience, whether it’s nursing in a hospital or hemming a handkerchief.” 

– Elizabeth M. Sewell

When we are recovering from grief, sometimes everything seems too much trouble, every task too heavy to undertake. So we are stuck, doing nothing, waiting for some Big Project or Big Event to call us out of our lethargy.

But maybe no such summons will occur. Or if it does, it may be too much for us to take on.

The important thing is to pay attention to the small nudges we receive – some simple thing I might enjoy doing today, some minor project that might seem worthwhile. Anything to get the ball of activity rolling again. This is no time to be figuring out one’s Lifework. This is a time to follow up on the small urgings, like calling a friend, clearing a few feet of the garden, or mailing a package, even returning a book to the library. Anything to establish ourselves as people who can take initiative.

Today, I will listen for a hint of something new I might do. And do it.

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