Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about beginnings and endings. And then this quote from the movie Hope Floats popped into my head. (Sometimes it weirds me out how my brain works, but I digress.)

It’s true. Beginnings can be scary, even if we are excited about the new prospect, the new opportunity, the new relationship, because whatever it is that’s “new” will still require some kind of change from us. And let’s be honest, change is scary because it means something has ended.

But without change, we remain stagnate.

(Of course, if I want to get really philosophical, technically we are always changing every minute, every second of every day. The philosopher Heraclitus said: “Into the same rivers we step and do not step, we are and are not.” But I digress—that’s not really the point of today’s post.)

And as it goes, every new beginning is because there is an ending. We move to a new city, saying goodbye to the old city. We start a new job by leaving the old one. We start a new chapter because the previous chapter ended. Even relationships end. Some endings go with a bang and others a whimper. (Apologies to T.S. Eliot.)

It’s endings that I’ve truly been contemplating.

I recently had a romantic relationship end. Nothing tragic, nothing dramatic. For various reasons, it simply didn’t work out. Upon reflection, I considered that maybe sometimes people really are put into your life for a specific purpose. And so, maybe when that purpose is fulfilled, the relationship ends. Maybe it’s a natural progression. In this case, I do believe this person was put into my life to show me that I am worthy and deserving of being loved, and that it is okay for me to want that kind of relationship. And for that, I will be forever grateful to him.

Am I sad that the relationship ended? Absolutely. Endings are sad and I did allow myself to grieve its ending. But I know it was the middle that counted. And what a middle it was. That relationship was a fabulous adventure—fun, beautiful, and amazing.

So now I find myself at a new beginning. (Or as T.S. Eliot said, I’m starting from an end.) But I know I will give hope a chance and embrace the change that comes from this end. Because what is life without hope, change, and a bit of adventure.