Some Other Beginning's End

How many of you just read that title and "Closing Time" from Semisonic just started playing in your head?You're welcome.

That song originally came out in 1998 when I was 18 and looking at heading off to college and being on my own for the first time. It was a scary but thrilling time. The unknown, the awaiting adventure, the newness of it all was practically intoxicating. My college years were tumultuous, liberating, terrifying and foundational to me as I began that roller coaster adventure of becoming an adult. You couldn't pay me enough money to relive those days, but I do remember a lot of it with fondness.

I actually heard that song recently on the radio and there is one line that always sticks out to me:

Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end.

Ain't that the truth? As soon as one phase of our life ends, another begins. It may not always feel that way at first, but it does. I mean, think about it... the second you are no longer in your 20s, you're in your 30s. There's no break. Life just keeps on moving.

Some endings are hard, others are eagerly welcomed. The same can be said for beginnings. But in my opinion, it isn't so much about the beginning itself, but about the fact that you just start somewhere.

As the new school year is approaching, I'm looking at the beginnings for my kids and wondering where the year will take them. I know my two oldest are a bit anxious because they are going into a new school, but they are also very excited. And I couldn't be happier for them. And scared for them. But there's a lot of happy.

As I look at how my kids are preparing for a new beginning, I instinctively take stock of what I have going on in my own life and the endings and beginnings that are coming my way.

Where are you? Are you coming up on an ending with an unknown beginning? Or maybe it's the other way around. Leave a comment below and tell me how you're preparing for it.