UNLIKELY

UNLIKELY

Function: adjective

Date: 14th century

1 : not likely : improbable; an unlikely outcome

2 : likely to fail : unpromising

This lovely flower growing up out of a gravel parking lot reminds me that unlikely things happen. Love springs up in relationships where there has been hurt. Wounds that had been open and raw begin to heal. Children who grow up in dysfunctional homes grow up to be fine human beings full of love and compassion. Unlikely things happen.

I see it all the time in my work with people who are grieving. Good things can come from loss, and that is perhaps one of the hard truths about grief. It is almost impossible to see the good that can come when we have been forced to let go of something that has been central to our lives. Initially all we see is emptiness. That life can come from death, or gain from loss, or light from the darkness, seems unlikely. Unlikely things happen.