More: Circumstances injure us. People wound us. But the thing is, we recover. We always do. It’s just that we allow ourselves to be troubled by the pace at which we are expected to—if not by others, then by our own selves.

We all have different amounts of resilience, and we attach different amounts of significance to different kinds of events. We need time to sort ourselves out, to work our way through the thoughts and emotions we happen to hold when tragedy strikes us.

Some of us take longer than others do to heal. It’s okay. We need to know it really is. Even if nobody agrees with this. People have ideas about how things should be. So do we. Free-floating ideas picked up from the world without experience of our exact situation and state.

If you find yourself on the other side, beside someone going through a “slow” recovery, don’t hurry them up. Be patient. Try your best to allow them all the time they need. Help them, but don’t rush them.

Everyone heals. Just not at the same pace. So stop measuring, stop taking pressure. And keep working.

(c) Mickey Kumra