About Introduction

As you navigate through your grief, I want to give you five guidelines to help ensure your grief journey gets you safely where you desire to go. 

Life is complex and full of all sorts of twists and turns—ones we can't always anticipate. 

Try to envision yourself driving down a highway in your car. Your car has many features for a more comfortable and safer ride.  

One of those features is a rearview mirror.

And just like a car, you are equipped with a rearview mirror.

When you look in the rearview mirror of your life, you see how you did a day or season in the past. 

If you are like most people, it would be nice if you could go back and do some of it over or differently. 

But unlike a car, you don't come equipped with reverse gear.  

You only get to do a day or season once, and then it is gone. There are no do-overs.

You can't go back and redo your high school years, raise your kids, or start your marriage again.

The truth is, we all have regrets because we all have a rearview mirror, but there's no reverse, no do-overs.

So, it is not helpful to spend a lot of time looking in the rearview mirror of your life, obsessing and regretting.

Because your future is going to be determined by how you move forward on your grief journey. 

It won't always be easy.

You will experience some sadness, grief, and pain along the way. 

But what you do from this point forward makes all the difference about where you will end up.
That doesn't mean you ignore the past. You can learn from your successes and mistakes.  

But you don't want to try and live your life looking in the rearview mirror. You will eventually crash if you try driving your car while looking only in the rearview mirror.

No matter where you are, you want to get the future right from this point forward. 

No matter what the past is. You want to arrive at your desired destination safely. 
It would be best to have a general idea of where you want to end up in this grief season and where you want to end up in the future.

Begin with the end in mind.
Think about what you want your future to look like relationally, financially, spiritually, and with your family. 

The following five guidelines will help you on your grief journey. 
They are all super practical. 
God Bless You,

Howard