“The cure for anything is salt water: sweat, tears, or the sea. -Isak Dinesen

There have been a lot of tears in my social circles. With the exception of some of my meditation times, my heart has been holding a permanent space for loved ones in their moments of stress and grief that have been so massive in these past few months. Cleansing tears, comforting words, loved-filled embraces.

For awhile, I was mostly there to offer my support, taking self-care breaks whenever I needed to so that I could serve others when they needed me. I suppose it was inevitable that this crazy storm we’re caught up in would pierce me in the heart as well. Grief is a difficult emotion. We know everyone dies, but we find it so hard to cope when it happens to someone we love. We never feel ready.

My studies lately have revolved around being present in each moment and recognizing the temporary state of everything.

“Everything in life is temporary. So, if things are going good, ENJOY IT because it won’t last forever. If things are going bad, DON’T WORRY, it can’t last forever either.”

This concept has helped me immensely in my life, with the big and the small, the awesome and the crappy. How it helps most is through acceptance, a non-resistant acceptance. It’s a practice of not getting carried away with any of my emotions. It is finding the sweet spot of emotional homeostasis.

That’s the ideal circumstance. Of course, we are all human, and it’s so ingrained in us to resist change and to cling to happiness. But with each new challenge, we are offered a chance to grow and to find that centering point.

So, this is my current education. First, I began to learn this through my meditation, then I turned to the books. Now I am living it, I am being challenged, I am walking through the storms. How many storms have we walked through in our lives? Some of them are small, and dent us in unnoticeable ways until a dent becomes a bunch of dents becomes a crack becomes a pile of pieces. Sometimes, they break us. They knock us down and break us into a million little pieces. It takes a long time to piece them back together.

With mindfulness we can turn that story on its head. Lately, I am walking through the storms with perspective. My dents get decorated and tended to, and eventually, if they need to, they get hammered out.