Grief and Gratitude

“Sorrow prepares you for joy. It violently sweeps everything out of your house, so that new joy can find space to enter.”

Grief and gratitude are not opposites. They are, in fact, deeply related.

You can only grieve what you valued. The depth of your grief is a measure of the depth of your love. And the depth of your love is something to be grateful for, even when it hurts.

This is not a call to toxic positivity — to pretend the loss is fine because you are grateful for what you had. The loss is not fine. The loss is real and it hurts.

But grief and gratitude can coexist. You can be devastated by the loss and also grateful that the love existed. You can miss someone terribly and also feel fortunate to have known them.

Both are true. Both deserve space.

Related Reflections

Themes that often travel alongside grief.