We face many endings throughout our lives. Sometimes it’s as simple as when a project comes to an end, a relatively ‘insignificant’, non-personal event regardless of your involvement. But if you’re involved then the ending is yours too. Or maybe it’s something very personal like the unexpected death of a loved one. Maybe it’s a ending that requires us to make some difficult decisions or maybe it’s an easy decision. The point is… how do we react, how do we respond to an ending – expected or not? Do we quickly rush on to the next (fill in the blank) or do we pause and consider what has happened and what should be our next step?
Being a person who believes in the power of contemplation, analysis would be my suggestion. But then, at some point, it is time to move on and the first consideration needs to be whether or not this is a permanent or temporary situation. The next is – how do you want to react? Many endings are the ‘burnt bridge’ kind of endings – no return. Some endings are memories, good and bad. Other endings lead to new beginning. And some endings really aren’t endings, merely pauses to be picked up at a later time. So while endings are inevitable, the type of ending can differ.
With some endings you can prepare yourself and others you can’t. While that is an obvious statement, we don’t always respond to this ‘logically’. Most of the time we want to control the ending, but we don’t necessarily always have that option. And, rather than focus on what we can’t do, it is far more gratifying to act on what we can do. If that sounds emotion-less, it isn’t. Endings always have the accompanying emotional involvement that also needs to be resolved in some form of closure.
Regardless of how much I may be enjoying what was, when it is time to end and start a new, I am a bit delighted at the ‘clean slate’ of a new beginning. Now there are new challenges, new obstacles to overcome, new learnings to discover. When the ending was difficult or ‘bad’ then the new has even greater appeal. However, it is always important to discover what you have learned in the process from the previous situation. As I have said many times, endings are inevitable – what we do with them and how we react to them isn’t.
…but, what do you think?
