Brave Enough To Be Bliss

Chapter 13 — The End Is…There Is No Ending

“No person is 100% healed, because healing isn’t linear. We go backwards and forwards and sometimes we’re all over the place; but that’s the process. Please don’t think you need to be 100% healed to deserve love and good things in life, because you absolut ely do.” Unknown There really is no end to our journey on this earth, until we die, that is. Life… I s… Hard. Knowing and accepting that fact means there will continue to be people, situations, and behaviors that arise throughout our lifetimes that will require continued learning and growing if we want to have healthy relationships.

“Healing isn’t merely a product of time passing, but rather the result of the active effort and work you put into your recovery and well- being.” R.M. Drake

I wanted to tie up loose ends. I wanted to celebrate “The End” of doing the work with Ginger after four years, instead of celebrating the progress I had made along the way and accepting that I’d never be “ done. ” Who I am, at my core, in my soul, is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow, but the work is continually being aware of my behaviors and how they are impacting my relationships.

“You’re allowed to be both a masterpiece and a work in progress simultaneously.” Sophia Bush

No one is perfect, therefore no one has this all figured out. We are all imperfect humans doing the best we can with where we are and what we know. The key is accepting it takes continued effort to become the healthiest and happiest humans we can be. I have learned to do the work as it presents itself, as conflict arises within me or within my relationships. There’s no end. It is learning to make the most of life, the best of life, as it is…not as I think it should be or as I want it to be, just as it as. One day at a time. As I am able. As others are able. For what it is, how it is. With a grateful heart that I’m living it at all with the ability to fin ally freely give and receive love.

I’m still uncovering the pieces of a fractured heart but the more I do, the more I learn and the fewer mistakes I will make in the future. I thought my journey would look much smoother than it has. Even after I accepted it wouldn’t end, I thought surely the hardest parts would pass much faster than they have.

“As long as I’m alive, I will continue to try to understand more because the work of the heart is never done.” Muhammad Ali

In Michigan, I fully realized God gave me the gift of life on this beautiful planet. He didn’t promise it would be easy. He gave me free will to take this gift of life with all its pain and misery, as well as its joy, and decide what to do with it. I have now chosen to gratefully accept this gift of life, to receive it, embrace it and all that comes with it, and try my best in each present moment to truly become a gift to Him and to this world. Since Nathan had been back living in his car, he was anxious for me to get back to the apartment so he could sleep on the couch again. I knew we were going to need to talk about a few

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