Recently, a business colleague of mine passed.
A friend of mine said to me, “I’m so sorry for your loss, that’s tough. But hopefully, you can think about all the time you guys did have together and be grateful.”
I know my friend meant no harm, but I think one thing a lot of people are trying to do, is put a positive spin on everything.
I think we have to realize though there are some parts of life that are just negative.
With death in particular, I think we can all agree, it sucks.
Certainly, at a later point, reflecting on the years I did have with the person is a good reflection to think about and be appreciative of.
But in the early days after a person passes away, I think we can say, “I’m so sorry for your loss, that’s tough.” and end it there. There doesn’t need to be any positive re-frame.