Transitions can be difficult. Doug and I have been through a few, and we didn’t care much for any of them. Transitions are valuable though. Every time something ended in our life, new opportunities emerged. We carried our skills and experiences from the old situation into the new.
An ending allows a beginning to happen. Each new beginning rearranges our life and presents opportunities for growth. In the past, Doug and I chose to see endings as loss, instead of the birth of something new.There may have been opportunities that we missed because we chose a negative mindset (ending) instead of a positive mindset (beginning).
We decided to write a list of endings from our past. We thought about the situations and found the new beginning that always followed the ending. With a little effort, we were able to write down a positive beginning for each ending that is in our past.
Below we wrote down each ending followed by the beginning that presented itself…
- Moving out of New York after 19 years- Started a new life with a clean slate in Florida.
- Moving out of South Florida after nine years- Began “adult” life; Married and had daughter.
- Stopped working at fine arts foundry- Started new phase of self discovery.
- Stopped working at custom yachts company- Gained employment at amusement park ride construction company.
- Laid off from ride company- Went back to school to finish education.
- Divorced- Met new people. Life opened up in ways it wouldn’t have.
- Mother passed away- Became my own person fully. Forced to think about my own path.
- Stopped being municipal employee- Time to find my true self. Develop career path that will make me happy.
Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end .
At the time, most of these endings seemed like the end of our monkey world. In retrospect, we are able to see that growth and opportunity followed each ending. Everything is a matter of perspective. You can choose negativity, and that’s what you will have. It’s better to choose to see the positive in all situations though. If nothing else, Doug and I now know that whatever we’re going through now will pass, and we will be better monkeys for it.
As the band Semisonic stated in their song Closing Time;
Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end…
Exercise
Think back to all of the ending that have occurred in your life. Job loss, deaths, sickness, moves, divorce… How did you feel when each of these events were taking place?
Make a list of all of your endings. What positive beginning sprang from each ending? This may take a change in thinking. Look back with your anti-negative glasses on.
Write down the new beginning next to each ending. Review your list. You will see a visual representation of the trials of your life, how you overcame them to become who you are at this very second. In addition, this should give you the knowledge that whatever you’re dealing with right now in life will end, and become something even better.
Yay for you! This is called insight… Monkey Style!
Did you bring your map? Let’s explore your talents then!
Doug Does Life 
[…] six months ago, I was a small cog in a municipal government monstrosity. For six years, this job became more unbearable for me. Creativity was not allowed… […]