How to Save a Life

[Milly]

When we are dying

Or have suffered a catastrophic loss,

We all move through five distinct stages of grief.

We go into denial

Because the loss is so unthinkable,

We can't imagine it's true.

We become angry with everyone,

Angry with survivors,

Angry with ourselves.

Then we bargain.

We beg.

We plead.

We offer everything we have.

We offer up our souls in exchange

For just one more day.

When the bargaining has failed

And the anger is too hard to maintain,

We fall into depression, despair,

Until finally we have to accept

That we have done everything we can.

We let go.

We let go and move into acceptance.

To do our jobs,

We have to believe that defeat is not an option,

That no matter how hopeless the war gets,

There's hope.

But eventually when our hopes

Give way to reality

And we finally have to surrender to the truth,

It just means we've lost today's battle,

Not tomorrow's war.

Here's the thing about surrender:

Once you do it,

Actually give in,

You forget why you were even fighting

In the first place.