I finally remembered that idea for a post. Phew! I was released from chiropractic care stemming from my automobile accident. If you recall, it wasn't a major accident - I hydroplaned into a telephone pole at 20-25 miles per hour. I suffered minor injuries; some whiplash which manifested as an intermittent pain shooting up my head, stuffy ear and sore shoulder. It took me almost four months to the day to recover from that fairly minor trauma. What about our clients here in the Trenches? I don't think anyone would argue that a divorce or a custody dispute is anything other than a Major trauma (note the capital "M"). Yet, the minute the ink is dry on the agreement or the court order, people expect the participants to get over it, to move on with their lives and put the dispute behind them. That attitude isn't confined simply to court actions and auto accidents; I know countless people who have had loved ones die, and six months later, they're told that they need to stop grieving. Why is that? I suspect it is because human suffering makes us all uncomfortable. We don't know what to do, how much and what kind of support to give. Should we simply listen to the fears, be a receptacle for the pain and the tears, or should we make the pain go away? Everyone is different; everyone needs something different in order to heal, and it's our job as fellow humans to find out what that is. We need to put aside our discomfort with grief, pain and loss to help those we love move on. Small auto accident = four months; loss of a dream, of life, of an important relationship = ?
No comments:
Post a Comment