missing the "old you"

I had this in spades. Seven years on I do not. I went through the stages of grief that would apply if a loved one died. I felt cheated because it was me. I do not feel that way now. I am different, better even. I did not die, my circumstance changed. This is a tremendous opportunity for personal growth. It is right to be sad, but like fear, only a small dose is acceptable before it starts working against you. It was in my case, a great deal of work that I resented because others did not have to do it. It is now a great deal of investment i made in myself to adapt to a forced change. We all change incrementally all the time, most people do not see the changes because they are so small. You can see them, which gives you the advantage of controlling them to a degree. I no longer resent it, and I have even grudgingly come to accept that it has been good for my personal development.