Endings Lead to New Beginnings

Laurie Taylor

The New Year has arrived. For those who are grieving the death of a loved one, the transition from one year to the other can be hard. The reality that the person we love will be left in the old year and will never experience the new one can weigh heavily on our hearts. Often, we feel even more separated from our deceased loved one because we feel as if we are moving even further ahead without them. We are entering the new year without them and it seems they are now centuries behind us.

We most often think of death as an ending, not only for our loved one, but for us, too. The grief, mourning and profound sadness remind us of all we have lost. As the months go on, we miss our loved one even more and continue to focus on the ending of their lives and the ending of so many parts of our lives. It’s almost impossible to even begin to think about new beginnings.

After the season of deep mourning subsides, we begin to understand that endings lead to new beginnings. We regain some of our physical and emotional energy and slowly realize we have more bandwidth to embrace the changes and new beginnings before us. It’s not uncommon to feel guilty about gradually moving forward in our lives and experiencing joy again. It’s important to give ourselves permission to begin to live more fully again. The fear of leaving our loved ones behind is sometimes paralyzing until we begin to process that we don’t “move on” without them, but rather move forward with them.

As this new year begins, grieve well. Part of grieving well is grabbing whatever flickers of joy come our way and holding tightly to them. Grief is the only experience that houses profound sadness and emerging joy in the heart at the same time. Follow your heart. Mourn when the pain grabs your heart and smile when you recall precious memories. Embrace the endings and the new beginnings. Somewhere along the journey, your new beginnings will bring true joy.