Your bones ache; your muscles scream; your breath is shallow. Your eyes are red, sore from crying; Your cheeks are tear stained and rosy. You are a beautiful mess.

Loss in all its form is a unique tragedy. People--and animals, and friendships, and moments--pirouette in and out of your life. As these things exit the stage, some curtseying with grace and kissing your forehead one last time and others abruptly giving up their roles and barely uttering goodbye, you are left feeling empty.

When you love something, it melts into your being, seeps into your soul--you feel a certain union. And when you lose it, you lose part of yourself. There was a heaviness wrapped around you that never noticed before, like the weight of your comforter, and now you're stripped down, lying on your bed, shivering without a blanket.

When a loved one leaves--whether it be from death, breaking up, moving to a different city--you feel vulnerable. You had clutched onto this certain someone for so long and now there was nothing to steady your dizzied gaze, nothing to stabilize your unbalanced heart.

Loss is inevitable, and while you might feel like you have to go scavenging for something to replace what's vanished from your life, you'll never find what you're looking for; you'll be on the road alone trying to recover something that can't be found.

Once you mourn for ample time--it's different for everyone--you can gradually ascend to normalcy; to happiness. Find solace in your friends and family; find comfort in your beliefs. Maybe what you lost isn't really gone.

Every circumstance is different; every attachment is different. And laments for something once loved may never fade. But looking back, you're sure to see good memories dotted along your twisting past. Whatever you once had--whatever you have now--is something that's worth preserving in your heart.

Loss is not fun--there's no other way to put it. You can try to convolute it; feign a semblance of being okay, but in the end, it's just not fun. But you will be okay, and you're not broken or empty or lost yourself--you're renewed. If that someone or something that you've lost meant anything to you, then it changed you; it contributed to your awesome self.

So, looking in the mirror, seeing your reflection framed by your achievements--your memories--smile, and silently thank all that you've lost, are losing, and will lose along the way for creating your beautiful self. These are the things that will push you toward your final destination.