Endings and Beginnings…The Cycle of Life

Bear with me as I take a philosophical romp through musings about endings and beginnings. Or is that beginning and endings…

I write this piece on the last day of February 2023. When I rise tomorrow, it will be the first day of March. This milestone got me thinking about beginnings and endings…endings and beginnings.

Our life is full of beginnings and endings. It would seem that everything we begin at some point comes to an end. We start a project, that usually comes to an end at some point. We start a race and it too will eventually come to an end. We rise each morning to a new day, that ends. We start a relationship, and those too come to an end.

Many things in life repeat this cycle over and over. Take, for example, my preceding mention of rising each morning to a new day. The day comes to an end; but begins anew when we rise the next day. The ending of one project can mark the beginning of another project. The ending of a relationship opens us to starting a new relationship.

Is there anything in life that remains constant? Is there anything in life that does not end? Is there anything in life that does not begin?

Love is such a one. Love does not end. We may think we stop loving people or things. But where does that love go? Does love just stop? Or does it get stored up until we redirect our love to something or someone else? But where did that love go ‘in between’?

Life itself does not end. Cut down a tree and new growth will eventually emerge from the tree stump. Throw out a plant and through the process of decomposition the plant will create fertile soil for the birth of new vegetation. This process is abundantly evident with the cycle of deciduous trees dropping their leave in the fall and the leaves providing nutrient-rich material to feed the forest floor, and foster the growth of new plant life.

Another interesting angle to this philosophical exploration of beginnings and endings is to ask yourself how you begin things, and how you end things? Generally speaking, how do you start things? With excitement? With hesitance? With resistance? Does it depend on what you are starting? What about endings? Generally speaking, how do you end things? Quickly? Do you tend to let things drag on? Are endings happy things? Or reason for otherwise for you? Again, does it depend on what you are ending?

Can we plan the ending of something? Or the beginning of something else? Can life be planned? I mean, can I truly plan what will happen in my life? Am I in control of this life?

Endings and beginnings…or is that beginnings and endings? Or is this all just about the cycle of life?

Robert Meagher has been ordained as an Interfaith Minister and certified as a Sacred Attention Therapy (SAT) Therapist. Robert is the Founder and Spiritual Director for Spiritual Guidance and Co-Founder of the Center for Human Awakening.