Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Endings are beginnings

It's easy to get caught up in the sadness of endings. There's just something about the word "ending" that seems so... final. But by it's very nature, when something ends, it signals the beginning of something else. Whether it's a relationship, a job, or any other significant change in our lives, we can choose to focus on what we're losing, or we can choose instead to focus on the new opportunities that this change represents.

When I change jobs, I like to focus on the fact that I have a clean and hopefully clutter-free workspace that I can organize the way that works best for me. I reflect on the things that weren't working for me at the last job and develop a strategy to avoid falling into the same traps this time. And, I look forward to learning new things, meeting new people and creatively identifying ways to add value in my new work setting.

When a relationship ends, I like to remind myself of all of the things I stopped doing because my partner didn't enjoy them, or I just didn't have the time. For example, I'm looking forward now to dancing more, exploring new places to shoot pictures, re-energizing my knitting ministry, and jump-starting my writing career. I am not saying that endings don't hurt. As I wrote in Cry Me A River, it's going to hurt until it doesn't hurt any more. It still hurts, but a lot less than it did.


The world is round and the place which may seem like the end may also be the beginning. -- Ivy Baker Priest (former U.S. Treasurer)

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