Endings and New Beginnings

I love this quote. And yes, it’s the same Mr Rogers who entertained kids for over 30 years. I’ve seen a few 'mic drop' quotes from him lately. (Google Fred Rogers quotes if you feel so inclined.) He apparently is quite prolific when it comes to adult life advice too. Who knew?!

If I’ve learned anything in my 55 years on this planet, it’s that life is a cycle of constant endings and new beginnings. And each beginning is an evolution into the next version of us. It’s the law of science and nature. Energy never stops moving; it simply evolves and changes over time.

And yet, as humans, we resist. We hang onto people, places and situations long past their expiry date and when the inevitable happens, we spend way too much time lamenting the loss. We’re culturally wired to assume that the unknown future is going to be worse than the known past. Kinda sad, actually, because often we hold ourselves back from incredible things.

Midlife is decidedly a time of endings for many of us... careers, relationships and kids leaving home, not to mention changing faces, bodies and the end of our reproductive years. It can feel like we’re in an endless cycle of endings, and we fight to hold on to the way things were. What if we could see our lives through the lens of Mr. Rogers and know that each end is the beginning of a new and better version of us. It would make things so much easier, wouldn't it?

Some of the most painful endings in my life were actually the most beautiful new beginnings that honestly wouldn’t have been possible if not for the endings.

The End of my marriage was the beginning of a beautiful journey of self-love and acceptance and also a beautiful new friendship with my ex. Story for another day, but suffice to say that we did divorce so much better than we did marriage. LOL!!

The End of my corporate career was the beginning of a new passion that turned into a career that I couldn’t even have imagined was possible.

Entering menopause… now, this was a tough one… was the beginning of a spiritual journey that has led me to see my value as a whole person beyond my physical self and all that I bring to the world. I will admit that this one took some work.

Hindsight is a beautiful thing. I understand now that these endings were actually the perfect set-up for my evolution. Each time I trusted the flow of `life and surrendered to an ending (i.e. let go of control), something beautiful was born because of it.

Imagine if we could see these midlife endings as exciting opportunities and new beginnings:

A time to focus on ourselves, our passions.
A chapter to unapologetically become more of who we truly are.
An opportunity to start a new career or chase dreams.

A chance to honour the knowledge, wisdom and experience that life has given us.

The time to say F YOU to limiting societal beliefs and show the world what midlife women are capable of.

What new beginning are you most excited about?