Sorrow passes and we remain

We've all been there - life's path seems to have gone awry, we're disappointed, maybe depressed and debilitated. This excerpt is from a letter from the novelist Henry James to his dear friend Grace Norton, who after the death of a family member has become depressed and desperate for direction. I thought the letter was so well crafted and worth sharing. (Letters of Note: Sorrow Passes and We Remain)

"My dear Grace, you are passing through a darkness in which I myself in my ignorance see nothing but that you have been made wretchedly ill by it; but it is only a darkness, it is not an end, or the end. Don't think, don't feel, any more than you can help, don't conclude or decide—don't do anything but wait. Everything will pass, and serenity and accepted mysteries and disillusionments, and the tenderness of a few good people, and new opportunities and ever so much of life, in a word, will remain. You will do all sorts of things yet, and I will help you. The only thing is not to melt in the meanwhile....You are marked out for success, and you must not fail. You have my tenderest affection and all my confidence."