Lost

When I was in school, I had a particular professor who believed that every therapeutic client was there because they were grieving a loss. Sometimes it was an actual death in the family. Other times it was a loss of something they dreamed to have. A loss of friendship. A loss of support. A loss of a relationship. A loss of their job. A loss of hope. A loss of anything.

The past couple months here have been hard on my co-workers. One case manager lost her 13 month old granddaughter and then last week one of the therapists lost his younger brother to a drug overdose. It is a hard time for many people. There are many things that we remember to be missing from our lives.

If I sat down and really thought about it, there would be many things I could list as losses over the course of my years. I'm sure if I dwelled on them regularly, I would be one of those people that don't survive the holiday season. It is difficult to lose things or even feel lost yourself.

I believe it is important to find the things you do have. The things you enjoy. The things that lift you and encourage you to endure the times of loss. So many times people focus so much on what they have lost, they don't see what is still there. Oftentimes this happens with my clients, the children. Their parents are so absorbed in what they don't have such as money, a significant other, etc. that they don't take the time to value what they do have. I hope this Christmas season will help them see what they still have instead of all the things they believe they are lacking in their lives.