A Grief Recovery Newsletter
Written by Patricia D. Freudenberg
There is a question that can feel almost offensive in the shadow of loss:
Can you truly say “I am blessed” after someone you love has passed?
Yes.
You can.
Instantly.
Not because the loss is small. Not because the pain is imagined. Not because you are dismissing heartbreak.
But if you miss them that deeply, then their presence in your life was a gift.
And a gift is a blessing.
Grief is evidence of love. And love, no matter how brief, no matter how interrupted, no matter how tragic the ending, is never wasted. Time shared cannot be confiscated. Memories cannot be repossessed. Laughter cannot be undone. That chapter exists in full.
That is a blessing.
You may say their time was too short. You may say it ended unfairly. In some cases, tragically so. All of that can be true. And still, it was a blessing to have known them.
Two truths can coexist.
You can ache and still be blessed.
You can mourn and still be grateful.
You can cry and still declare strength.
There is power in the words I am.
This is not a trendy affirmation pulled from thin air. It echoes through ancient scripture, including the sacred texts of the Holy Bible, one of the most widely read books in human history. The phrase carries weight. Identity. Intention.
What follows “I am” shapes how you stand in the world.
Modern voices such as Dr. Joe Dispenza, Dr. Bruce Lipton, and Dr. Wayne Dyer have discussed the neurological and biological impact of thought and language. Research institutions, including Stanford University, have explored how appreciation and gratitude influence emotional regulation, stress response, and overall well-being.
Appreciation is not weakness.
It is chemistry.
When you access gratitude, even in fragments, your body responds. Hormones shift. Stress softens. Your nervous system recalibrates. Appreciation lives in the same emotional ecosystem as love, joy, empowerment, and wisdom. These states elevate. They stabilize. They restore clarity.
Declaring I am blessed is not denial.
It is direction.
Especially in the early onset of grief, strength can feel unreachable. The fog is thick. The weight is heavy. And yet, the key is still within reach. Even if you whisper it through tears:
I am blessed that I had them.
I am blessed that I loved them.
I am blessed that love was real.
That declaration becomes a stepping stone. And eventually, a cornerstone.
You are not erasing pain. You are anchoring meaning.
If this message resonates, I invite you to go deeper through my book, Live Your Legacy: A New Spin on Mourning. It is a guided reflection journal designed to help you transform grief into purposeful living. Inside, we explore the seventh layer of grief: Legacy. Because memory is not the end of the story. It is the bridge. You can find the book on Amazon and through my website at Miss-U-Gram®.
A Stepping Stone When You Are Ready
When you feel ready to move from surviving to intentionally rebuilding, my book Live Your Legacy: A New Spin on Mourning was written as a practical guide for that very transition.
This is not about rushing grief. It is about reclaiming agency.
Live Your Legacy is a reflective guidebook journal designed to help you take matters into your own hands when you are ready for recovery. It walks you through mindset shifts, intentional prompts, and structured exercises that help transform sorrow into purposeful living. I introduce what I call the seventh layer of grief: Legacy. The place where pain becomes power and memory becomes momentum.
You do not have to stay stuck in reaction mode.
You can move into creation mode.
The book is available on Amazon and through my website at Miss-U-Gram®. When you are ready to take the next step, let it be a stepping stone beneath your feet.
Final Thoughts
Until next time, I will leave you with this:
It is 100 percent possible to find appreciation in something and to feel blessed by claiming the powerful words I am. That is the gift. That is the power.
If you cannot find it in the details, especially in the early onset of grief, which is completely understandable, then find it in the macro. Find it in the big. Zoom out.
Go big or go home.
If you cannot yet say you are blessed for the way it ended, can you say you are blessed for having loved at all?
That is the question.
Quote of the Day
“What you place after the words I am becomes the architecture of your emotional future.”
Patricia D. Freudenberg
Patricia T. Freudenberg
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