Beginnings, Endings and the ‘In Between’

We often think of life in finite terms-black/white, yes/no, good/bad, happy/sad etc and there is always a beginning and an end. Like a perfect book where we start and end somewhere. And while this is true, we miss the in between-the good, bad and ugly. We forget the tears, the laughs, the triumphs, the losses that goes with the in between. I have given a lot of thought to this post-thinking over my own ‘in between’ and those stories that others have shared with me.

We are given one life to live-at the end of the day all we have is the ‘in between’-whether someone lives for a short time or long time. Sometimes life happens TO us, and sometimes we happen TO life. Let me explain, we are given an indeterminate amount of time here. I am not going to convince you to “Carpe Diem” all the time. While it is a great statement, for many of us, the journey to that is a long one. What happens when we experience the tough stuff can be a game changer-can be for the worse or the better. But we can’t dispute it that it changes us.  We can fight it, we can embrace it, or we can choose to do nothing. There is NO right or wrong.  BUT either we take control and take responsibility for the change, or it will change us whether we like it our not.

I have experienced numerous changes in the last 2 years-some good and great, some bad and crappy and some that I truly had to determine how it would change me.

We can have infinite “endings and beginnings” in the ‘in between’.  Do we take the time to celebrate them, memorialize them, grieve them, or even appreciate them? We run through life thinking about a beginning and an end, often without stopping to thinking about the ‘in between’.  The ‘in between’ is where we grow, and appreciate these experiences for what they are in that very moment; knowing that they change us dramatically.

I have experienced many endings and beginnings, and for a long time I ignored them. I ignored the lessons and stuffed many of the emotions that I feared, but in fact I needed to ‘feel’ to accept the ending. Here’s the thing-there are no “bad” emotions. And again, either we acknowledge them and deal with them, or we don’t. Either way, they will change us whether we want them to or not.

I have embraced the beginnings and endings as part of my life and not because it has been easy, but because I choose to accept that it is part of our human condition.  I struggle, I fall, I get up again, and I fall, and then I may do it all over again. BUT, when I am aware of what I want to let go of and accept the “ending”, I am choosing to take responsibility for my own best life I can live.

With love, Rochelle xoxo