"Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end"
Though most people recognize this quote as a line from the late '90's hit "Closing Time" by the band Semisonic, it is actually attributable to the Roman writer and philosopher, Seneca from 54 B.C.
In the past month, I was reminded that our lives are a series of transitions. With a third son heading off to college at University of Tennessee, my wife and I found ourselves in a quieter and less busy home now that there's only my daughter home with us. This transition to college had been planned for years; we knew this day was coming since my son was a toddler, yet when it finally arrived we weren't quite emotionally ready. This "new beginning" meant the end of what we had seen as of our daily parental role as my son's life.
We had done everything we could as parents to ready him to take on the challenges of independence with responsibility and maturity, yet we didn't take time to consider how his absence would impact our lives back at home. As we acclimate our lives to smaller grocery bills, less laundry, and fewer shoes by the front door, we also work through filling the quiet times at the dinner table and building a new schedule with more time for ourselves.
The transition for all of us will take some time as we get used to the "new normal". In many ways, the planning before and after this transition is similar to the planning that I help clients with every day as they contemplate the end of some other beginning.
If you find yourself facing a "new beginning" providing care for a loved one, considering retirement, job change, starting a family, or transitioning on after the loss of a loved one, let's talk.