Heartache is heavy.

It comes spontaneously. You never seem to know how to prepare yourself. One can set up barriers and shields to protect themselves beforehand to prevent any kind of pain. But regardless of how strong you are, the aftermath can affect you in one form or another.

A certain kind of heartache everyone experiences in the duration of their life is a loss. Loss of a friend, family member, or someone of great significance in your life. Everyone navigates different ways to go about finding healing and peace, but there are many times that there is not a simple solution. I'm not going to sugar coat it, it's not easy. Sometimes the pain feels so heavy on your shoulders that you don't always know what to do.

I wish I could give a singular piece of advice that would help heal and take away the pain. But what I can do to try to comfort is to remind you that they loved you so greatly. I am sure they held onto you the same way you held onto them. A love like that will never fade away and you will always have that held in your heart, along with all the memories. If you go through your days with little things that remind you of them, know that's them signaling to you that they are still around. It's the little things that you will always be able to hold onto, that will never go away.

Another important piece of advice is to let yourself go through the emotions. Allow yourself to grieve in whatever way grants you the most peace. We all grieve in different ways and through different amounts of time. Don't suppress any feelings. I cannot stress that enough. Suppressing my feelings and not allowing myself to go through all the waves of emotions made it a lot harder for me to grieve. Allow yourself to feel everything, and then try little by little each day to recoup yourself. Even if it's making your bed and working out as your main objectives of the day, having goals like that for each day will help move forward and take care of yourself. It's very easy to lose yourself experiencing loss, continue to still make yourself a priority especially during the seasons.

Commemorate their life and celebrate it. Some ways to do this is doing little things in their honor, whether it be wearing their favorite sweater or framing a picture of the two of you. Keeping a little piece of them with you throughout the day will give you a certain kind of peace that although we may not see it, they are always around. Spread the love you receive and love dearly the people you have in your circle. Every relationship holds value, and let them know they hold value to you.