The hardest gratitude is what we've lost, Appreciating that which did not last. To feel this is to know the future's cost, And free yourself to leave behind the past. It's difficult, but trust yourself to cope-- To step into the unknown, ripe with hope.

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To separate is sometimes in the cards.
Though you may feel relief, it makes you sad
To contemplate the scattered, broken shards
Of intimate relationship gone bad.
Your consolation lies in moving on,
But at your peril you neglect to mourn.
For new connections there is time anon;
The old must die before the new is born.

The hardest gratitude is what we've lost,
Appreciating that which did not last.
To feel this is to know the future's cost,
And free yourself to leave behind the past.
It's difficult, but trust yourself to cope--
To step into the unknown, ripe with hope.

--JJM = #56 in the I Ching Sonnet Project

Authors Bio:

Josh Mitteldorf, de-platformed senior editor at OpEdNews, blogs on aging at http://JoshMitteldorf.ScienceBlog.com. Read how to stay young at http://AgingAdvice.org.

Educated to be an astrophysicist, he has branched out from there to mathematical modeling in a variety of areas, including evolutionary ecology and economics. He has taught mathematics, statistics, and physics at several universities. He is an avid amateur pianist, and father of two adopted Chinese girls, now grown. He travels to Beijing each year to work with a lab studying the biology of aging. His book on the subject is "Cracking the Aging Code", http://tinyurl.com/y7yovp87.