Beginnings are beautiful. Starting something new offers excitement, and opportunity for change, but often saying hello to the new, means saying goodbye to what you know.
- When you move to a new city, you say goodbye to another.
- When you start a new class, you may have to adjust your schedule and say goodbye to something else.
- When you start a new career, you’ll say goodbye to the work you leave behind.
Whether you are saying hello to a new habit, relationship, city or a completely new way of life, you may also be saying goodbye to someone, something, or the familiarity of who you were before. With that, beginnings become joyful, painful, exciting and uncertain all at once. You could stay focused on all of the newness to avoid the farewells, but then you miss honoring the very best parts of what came before. By acknowledging the joy and the sorrow, you can bring your loves and lessons into your new beginning.
You may instigate some of life’s beginnings and endings, but ready or not, many happen on their own schedule.
Simply Embrace Beginnings and Endings
- Be Open. You might not be ready for something new, but when it’s time, it’s time. Let go of your need to hold on to the past or attempts to control the future. It’s usually completely out of your hands. Instead, simply be open to letting things unfold.
- Notice small shifts. Beginnings and endings aren’t always black and white. Notice small shifts in your relationships and work. If you pay attention, you can probably notice tiny beginnings and endings all the time. Let them help you navigate the bigger stuff.
- Work with a beginner’s mind. Don’t try to do the new like the old. Instead, be curious. Ask for help. Admit that you don’t know what you are doing. Laugh and find joy in the process.
- Don’t edit your feelings. If you miss what was or feel uncomfortable with change, own it. Write about it. Tell a friend. All of those emotions and the energy that surrounds your beginnings and endings is real. It’s important and you can’t leave it out of your story.
- Insert a pause. You can’t stop time, but you can make room to pause and access or rest before moving forward. Discover the power of the pause by taking an adult time-out.
Maybe Marion Woodman is right and you don’t have a clue who you are becoming. You don’t have a clue how things will turn out and you don’t know what’s next. No one really knows. The important thing is that you know who you are right now. Be you from the inside out and everything will be better than you imagined.