A True Pearl:
You will probably make new friends during your process of grief. Be open to this.

Having a new friend brings good and positive energy into your life.

The thought of having a new friend may seem much too tiring right now. You may not be sleeping as well as usual and are exhausted both physically and emotionally. You may feel you don’t even have enough energy for yourself, your family and the friends you currently have.

I encourage you to remember a time in the past when you found a new friend. Do you remember the fun and excitement of having this new friend? A new friend brings new energy into your life, can raise self-confidence and warm your heart with smiles and joy.

You may meet a new friend in a grief support group. Grief group members share a common (yet personally unique) pain and challenge in life. Through the honest emotional group sharing, people get to know one another more quickly and in more depth than happens outside of grief. Such friendships are special gifts.

Or your new friend might be:

* someone you encountered at the bookstore in the grief support, spiritual or self-help section
* the delivery person who brought flowers to you and your family
* the mail carrier delivering the many condolence cards
* someone from your school or job you never noticed before but who also experienced a loss
* a member of the church choir singing at your loved one’s funeral service
* a friend or associate of your loved one whom you had not met before
* a neighbor bringing food for you and your family

Remember death changes you. You may now attract different and new types of people. The experience of death and grief changes you by broadening your thoughts, giving you new ideas about the world and re-arranging your priorities. Friends are excellent mirrors for one another as they each grow and change.

Be open to the possibility of gaining a new friend.

Sincerely sending you Peace, Love & Creativity,
Tricia