Posted in response to Friday Writings #241: Change
Epigraph
Perhaps the deeper part of living an authentic life is accepting its inherent brokenness. We are constantly told that, given enough time, all pain will heal, and that we should emerge from suffering stronger and better than before. But some pains do not heal—and they do not have to. Grief, betrayal, shame and profound loss may remain permanently etched within us. Acceptance is not resignation; it is learning to live with what cannot be changed, and finding the courage to build a life around it rather than against it. Perhaps that is what it means to thrive: not returning to who we once were, but becoming fully, unmistakably our own.
Some pains may never heal, and that's alright;
losses that leave a silence, we must let them stay.
Grief, shame, the sting of betrayal from the past
may make a home just below the surface.
We love to believe that time will erase each scar,
that healing will return us to who we once were;
every wound must somehow make us stronger,
suffering must teach us how to live better.
We need not aim to erase what once broke,
nor make every wound a source of strength;
for acceptance of scars and grief is not giving up—
it is learning to live with what cannot change.
Perhaps the deeper part of living an authentic life is accepting its inherent brokenness. We are constantly told that, given enough time, all pain will heal, and that we should emerge from suffering stronger and better than before. But some pains do not heal—and they do not have to. Grief, betrayal, shame and profound loss may remain permanently etched within us. Acceptance is not resignation; it is learning to live with what cannot be changed, and finding the courage to build a life around it rather than against it. Perhaps that is what it means to thrive: not returning to who we once were, but becoming fully, unmistakably our own.
Living the Change
Some pains may never heal, and that's alright;
losses that leave a silence, we must let them stay.
Grief, shame, the sting of betrayal from the past
may make a home just below the surface.
We love to believe that time will erase each scar,
that healing will return us to who we once were;
every wound must somehow make us stronger,
suffering must teach us how to live better.
We need not aim to erase what once broke,
nor make every wound a source of strength;
for acceptance of scars and grief is not giving up—
it is learning to live with what cannot change.
Profound words. I like this point of view, the wisdom to accept what cannot be changed rather than the pressure to find a positive in every negative.
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