"Some Advice from a Person Who Knows by John Gower

Take some advice from a person who knows; when the film starts playing and replaying behind your eyes, do not entertain it. Do not rewrite what you might have said, should have said, do not write a new script for her either. Do not scold her for not following her lines. Do not sit passive in the dark and wonder why. Life is still going on and you my dear friend are still alive. This pain of loss and dreariness you feel today will dissipate, the flowers and clouds will cease to frame her face, the sun and birds will no longer hold her name. The color of her hair and eyes will no longer mean a thing. Do not wallow in your weariness, be brave and pay attention to what is around you now. Do not glorify the loss or hold allegiance to the past. The future you fear will get here soon enough and when it does you will find you will get used to it, just like you got used to her. You will establish a new set point and comfort will come your way again, just like it always does. After all, apparently, you were in fact not getting along as you once did. The time had come. Though you may think it’s so unfair that her attraction to you had galloped away. Trust me, life is like that, it simply won’t hold still, you can not nail it down or lock it up. Life is wild and chaotic, it plays by slippery rules so unfair we turn away in disbelief. Do not try to corral it, or punish it. Start again, breathe it in, breathe it out, smell it, touch it. Consider the grace of being here at all. Plant your feet, open your heart, and do not worry how you might measure up. I promise you none of us will be here long and in the end there is no star for your lapel if you get things lined up so. No, there are just moments. Right or wrong, here we are, minds in the making, love for the taking. We are animals in our own image.