How do we take the chance to start to talk to somebody we haven’t talked to in a long time? Even days can sometimes be too long. Months and years surely are. All due to an episode, or episodes, where there is a great deal of pain, frustration, anger, hurt ego, and pride- on both sides. Where do we begin to try to calmly, carefully, put the pieces that used to fit so well and feel so good back together? To let them know how much they are missed, how much they are valued, and how not having them in your life is such a great loss.
If we take the step, will they hear?
Will we be able to say it the way we want to?
Can we move forward?
There is only one way to find out.
Take the leap- be vulnerable and
speak what is in your heart.
Knowing that it’s both sides that need to heal, both sides that need to listen, and both sides that need to move forward.
Hopefully together, into a space you were not in before, with mutual respect for each other’s needs, perspectives, and desires. And hopefully with a new found ability to seek a common ground. If not to continue conversation, at least to honor each other’s existence.
How do we take back the hurtful words that somehow seem to linger so much longer than words of encouragement, love, and support? Words that penetrate and go deeper into our core and stay more pronounced, festering in a fertile ground of vulnerability. All the while, creating a wall that is harder and harder to shatter.
We do it by taking that first step.
And then the next.
And then the next.
Until they lead back to a path of harmony and new interactions. Creating a tapestry of memories that outweigh and overcome the past ones.
-Dr. Courtney
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https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/harriet_beecher_stowe_126483