Do we become less tolerant of behavioral quirks in others after we’ve lost our hero? Are we less willing to overlook those annoying foibles in others and just exclaim “get over it already?”

Why is it we feel like this? I think there are two reasons.

a. We resent people telling us to “get over it” so we transfer that resentment to someone else. Didn’t Jesus say, “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?” Matthew 7:3-5

How many times did people ask you if you were over your grief or if you had moved on yet? Besides being annoying, that question was simply a reminder of how much our lives have changed. We don’t get over it or move on. We move forward while living a new type of normal. Nothing will ever be the same again. But it is up to us to work through the pain and the adjustments. The whole situation cannot be blamed on anyone else. We cannot be so critical of each other that we forget each one of us has something we are trying to work through, whether it is grief, anger, addiction, or whatever. We need to give each other a break! More importantly, we each have a contribution to make to this world, no matter how large or small. Everyone has value. (more…)