When someone has been through a loss -- a relationship ending, a layoff, whatever -- it is easy for them to start viewing themselves purely through the lens of what they have lost. After a while, it gets harder to remember who you were, what your worth is, and the positives that have been in your life.
For me, being out of work for some time has been rough on my self-image. I had a very successful career which has since felt very far away. So I was very fortunate this week to get an invitation to speak to an elementary school in the Philippines via Zoom. I was initially ambivalent about it -- my books came out before those kids were born -- but it turned out they are big hits in the school library there. So I spent an hour taking questions from these adorable kids and getting a badly needed reminder that, whatever my situation now, the work I did mattered to people.
If you know someone who has been through a loss, remember that they may be struggling in ways that are not obvious. Take a minute to remind them that they are more than what they have lost.