Grief and Gratitude
We all know the entrepreneurial dream: start a business from scratch, pour into it and build it up, and then sell it to make room for our next big gorgeous goal.
That was my dream, and when I first accomplished it, I expected to feel grateful. After all, I had just crushed my goals and watched them pay off! While I did feel gratitude, I also felt grief, and that was unexpected.
I was sad when I found myself on the other side of the entrepreneurial dream. Though I had always intended to sell my business and move on, I was losing something that I loved very deeply. I was struggling with this sadness while being very conscious of wanting to appear grateful for my success. This messy ball of feelings drove me to my couch, where I felt frozen for a long time.
That’s the problem with the tension between gratitude and grief: it’s complicated. I didn’t know how to handle it, and I let it paralyze me and keep me from moving forward.
Even the thought of taking a small step forward was scary. Not only did I feel afraid, but I felt small, and I noticed that I was, in fact, becoming small. As I did nothing, I felt the walls of my life closing in; I found that my world had become a much smaller spot than it once was.
If you’re feeling yourself caught up in the entanglement of grief and gratitude, let me encourage you. There is a way of off the couch, out of your small space: get comfortable with feeling uncomfortable. If you’ve chased a dream before, you already know how to do this! As I learned the hard way, the only way out of your small space is to take steps forward toward creating and chasing another set of big gorgeous goals.
I know that can seem intimidating; it was for me, even though I had just crushed my big gorgeous goal! It’s allowed to be scary, and you have permission to feel whatever you need to feel… but it’s so important that you take those steps forward, however small they are. If you never leave your small space, you miss out on the joy that is yours to claim and the satisfaction of moving into new territory where you can meet new people and learn new things. Don’t let yourself stay stuck in your small space.
If you want more encouragement and guidance on your journey through grief and gratitude, check out my video here.