THE END OF THE BEGINNING

 
Stories don’t end,” he says. “They just turn into new beginnings.
— Lindsay Eagar, Hour of the Bees

One of the most elusive elements of life are endings. Endings can produce both fear and exhilaration. Be it the end of a book, end of project, end of a relationship, end of a day or end of a year, endings tend to illicit certain feelings out of us.

For some, the end produces feelings of excitement, relief, accomplishment and freedom. For others, the end evokes sentiments of sorrow, sadness, pain and loss. 


The end of a chapter can tend to show itself as the end of our story.


It’s one thing to end anything we’ve been wanting to finish. It’s quite the other when the end comes unexpected and even more so, undesired. 


I’ve been there, and in many ways, find myself there, again at the end.


Yet the end of anything, be it good or bad, marks the beginning of something new. 


Just as the end of a chapter allows you to move forward in the story, the end of anything offers an opportunity for new to emerge out of life.


Here are some life postures that have given me a sense of excitement, even when things loved and desired have come to an end.


1. Think back with gratitude at all the lessons learned and experiences gained through the thing that has come to an end.


2. Allow yourself the space to feel the emotions that are connected to the end. 


3.  Don’t allow regrets to sabotage reality. While our regrets can keep us in bondage to the past, our reality can propel us to the future.


4.  As much as is in your power, seek to make right anything that was left wrong.


5.  Always remember what was, but never neglect what could be (and possibly should be).


So on this day—the end of the beginning for me—I choose to live a story that I’d want to tell tomorrow.


May you do the same!


- Joel

 
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