Happy Beginning

Published on: Aug 4, 2007 

They say that change is good for the soul, and I agree with this sentiment. It’s one of the reasons I created a business where I help others maneuver through transitions in their lives, to be a catalyst for effective change.

After being forced to change numerous times in my own life, I learned a few things along the way that I now share with clients and students as they deal with change and loss. Though scary at first, I came to realize that I enjoyed the benefits that resulted from letting go of the familiar and facing the unknown. For one, I learned to be resilient – I discovered I was capable of rebuilding my life from scratch and forging new paths that were unthinkable in my previous environment.

Another benefit has been making new friends, people I would never have encountered if I’d stayed in the same place, year after year. From my travels, adventures and studies, I’ve made friends all over the country and in many parts of the world that have enriched my life considerably. I’ve learned that with each friendship that fades, a new one is bound to spring up in its place, teaching me new lessons about myself and the world around me.

I was recently hired as an adjunct professor for an online university, a job I can manage at home or abroad with a computer and an internet connection. I chose this new challenge to further my dream of living in another culture. In the next few years, I’m hoping it will enable me to extend my travels from weeks to months at a time. I’ll continue working with clients and offering classes at home, but I’ll have chunks of time to explore a new life in Italy.

As with any change, once begun, it’s impossible to know where the journey will take us. We might think we know where it’s leading, but detours often occur, and we might end up in an entirely different place than what we had in mind when we set out. The magic of it is that we’re usually led to an even better place than we could have imagined! That’s been my experience, and it’s the main reason why I embrace change instead of fighting it.

Rather than focus on change as an ending, I prefer to consider it a beginning; an awakening to new life, new awareness, and new possibilities. Here’s an Italian greeting that sums up nicely what I wish for you:

“Buon fine, Buon principio”

Happy endings, Happy beginnings