Death is a concept that most people try not to think about, hope to avoid and definitely don't want to discuss. Personally, it is something that terrifies me because I've seen so much loss around me for so many years. It's a hard feeling to explain if you've never experienced it firsthand, and even for those of us who have, it is something that is quite inexplicable. It's not only a hard concept to face, but it's even harder to properly deal with the death of a loved one, a friend, a family member and so on. There is no right way to grieve, but there is a wrong way and sometimes we resort to the unhealthy way of avoiding situations and feelings until they constantly come back to haunt us. Grief is a hard process and it's not one anyone wants to deal with on any given day. It's something that may be in the back of our minds, but that lingers only there because we never want it coming to the forefront. We don't want to realize that people we love are no longer with us or that we will be gone one day too, and when death is so close to you and has affected you in a singularly traumatic way, it is hard to want to deal with these emotions you are feeling, or to want to feel anything at all. As hard as it may be, in order to be OK, you have to grieve. Remember the ones you loved that passed away, do things in their honor, let yourself cry, let yourself have feelings and be hurt for awhile. Just always remember that life moves on (in a good way). You may have lost people you really love but there are still people you love here. Even though grief and loss may be the hardest emotions to face, you will have to in order to move on, to process your range of emotions and then fully understand all of the positive and amazing things you have in life, here in the present. There is nothing like the present and all of the opportunities that is brings with it and even with the weight of death and the comprehension of loss, we can understand the incredible nature of life and birth. We can have the gift of saying that we are alive for one more day and we can do whatever we want with that day. Our loved ones that passed away would want us to live that way. Death sometimes seems unfair and untimely, but focusing on life is what can create a better sense of hope, love and a willingness to live life fully. They would want us to have the time we need to heal and to become stronger before going back out into the world and keeping them in our minds when we accomplish all of our goals and dreams.