The Great Unintended Consequence

#172

Friend,

I know it was amazing when they were around. They were your rock, and you were their delight. They could brighten dreary days, calm anxious days, and celebrate meaningful days.

And then, one day, they were gone. And you were left with the great unintended consequence of love: grief.

Love is a beautiful, terrible thing. It’s beautiful, then it’s terrible. The deeper you experience their love, the more miserable you experience the grief of their loss.

Over two centuries ago, Alfred, Lord Tennyson wrote a poem on the reflection of the grief of losing his best friend 17 years earlier that included these famous words:

I hold it true, whatever befall;
I feel it, when I sorrow most;
’Tis better to have loved and lost
Than never to have loved at all

Grief is the painful result that follows beauty. Grief is the misery after delight. Grief is the precariousness after stability.

Grief is the unintended consequence of being loved.

Love,

Aaron

P.S. I wanted to share one of my favorite art pieces that my wife has created using this quote from Winnie the Pooh…