Loss is one of the biggest fears we can have. It can come in the form of losing a job, a companion, or a parent. One day you can have the world, and the next you have nothing. We aren’t promised anything in this life. There is no guarantee to a comfortable life, money, or stability. There isn’t a grand contract we sign at birth saying we get anything. We spend our lives gathering and collecting. We work ourselves to death to afford to live.

Until we don’t live anymore.

I’m approaching fifty. Next year, I will be half a century old. This has caused me to contemplate a lot of things in my life. I am a husband, father, and grandfather. I am a friend, a son, and a writer. I try to be the best I can and provide what I can.

But, sometimes life doesn’t care. It can be cruel and uncaring. Life can be a bitch. It will give to you, but it will also take away. It may be a car, a job, or a friend that fails you. Or death can be the thing making you feel profound loss.

You can get another car or job. When death fills you with loss, it’s a void in your heart you wonder will ever heal.

This year has been incredibly brutal. In March, my oldest friend passed suddenly. It was a stinging loss that is still fresh. The next loss crushed me the most. In late July, I lost my mother. I don’t think anything can prepare you for losing a parent. I felt like my heart was ripped from my chest and thrown on the floor.

When you fear loss, you can forget to live. There are times this year where I’ve forgotten how to do that. I put on a mask to let everyone think I’m okay, but I’m not. I mean, are we ever really okay on the inside? Losing things is one of my biggest fears. The fear of loss is deeply seeded in my head, and it constantly calls to me.

But, loss is a part of our lives.

We have to push through our fear of loss and persevere. I’ve taken the hits, and I didn’t write for a few weeks at different times this year. My fears didn’t let me process the losses in a productive way.

This time, I’m turning the fear of loss into a driving force. I realize I can live without the fear. Loss is a natural part of living, and I want to go on living my best positive life.

I never fear hanging out with you fine folks. I hope you’re all doing well and are ready for Halloween season to arrive. I seriously check daily to see if our Spirit Halloween store has opened yet.

Alas, it has not…

I will leave here with a smile and a wave. How we fear and react to loss is what we make of it. I want to make myself better, and I hope you all find yourselves trying to more positive as well.

Later and take care of each other,

Brent