Endings Teach Us Too


      I was speaking with someone the other day about the finality of doing something you love for the last time. Specifically, the high school athlete that will play in their last game. They spent years practicing, suffering, working, sacrificing, succeeding and failing. Then one day you wake up and that sport is no longer part of your life. That schedule is no longer your schedule.  

      I thought of my own experience and how the suddenness of it sunk in only a few days after the last game. After a few mornings of not getting up to lift and run. A few afternoons of not sitting in the trainer’s room getting my ankles tapped and laughing with my teammates. I would never have those moments again. I had to wrap my head around the idea that those experiences had a time in my life and they are now gone. They can only be relived in memory. Did I give those moments my full attention? Or did I just allow them to pass by swiftly with no time spent cherishing them?

      I think there are several lessons for us in those experiences. Your work towards a goal is not rendered useless once you reach the goal. In fact, the work you put in and the struggle you endured will serve you much more throughout your life then the goal you attained. The most important lesson is realizing that this idea extends to the relationships we have, and the ones that come and go. There are so many things and people in our lives that have their time. They are there to serve a purpose, sometimes ones we don’t even know. We have those experiences, meet those people, learn what we can, embrace that time and then move forward. It is sad at times, and we mourn the losses. But we should never lose ourselves in the loss, because the loss is such a small part of the experience. The most significant part is the knowledge we gained, the relationships we built, the happy moments we had, the suffering we endured together and the knowledge we leave with. 

      You may never cheer again with your team, never talk to your grandparent again, never laugh with that friend again, but that is only a small part of the story. The greater story is that you have all those memories. That you have those experiences that taught you about resilience, suffering, struggle, about happiness, family, and love. Moments that molded who you are and who you will become. We can remember those moments that feel like lose, as gifts that help create the person we are becoming.