"Chaque nouveau départ vient de la fin d'un autre départ."

When something new starts in your life, it's often because something else has ended. It's a simple idea that keeps coming up in life. Think about it: you graduate from school, and it means the end of your student days but the start of your career. Or, you leave a job you’ve had for years—maybe it’s sad, maybe it’s liberating—and now you’re on the brink of something new and exciting.

This idea is not just a modern one; it has roots going way back. The quote itself was made famous by the band Semisonic in their song "Closing Time" from the late '90s. It’s a line that resonates because change is such a universal experience. When the song came out, it captured a lot of people's feelings about transitions—whether it was graduating, moving cities, or ending relationships. It’s almost like a secular mantra for life's inevitable changes.

Let's pull this into the real world with a concrete example. Imagine you’ve been working at the same company for ten years. You know the ins and outs of your job, you’ve got your work friends, and maybe you’ve even got a routine you like. But one day, you get a pink slip. Boom—suddenly, you’re out of a job. At first, it’s panic-inducing. All you can think about is the end: the end of your job, your routine, your steady paycheck.

But then, a couple of months down the line, you find a new job. Maybe it’s even something you’re more passionate about, something you wouldn’t have had the courage to go for if you hadn’t been pushed. That old job ending? It was the start of something better.

So, how do you apply this idea to your life? Start by shifting your perspective. When something ends, allow yourself to feel those emotions—grief, frustration, maybe even relief. But don't get stuck there. Try to see the ending as an opportunity. Ask yourself, “What can I start now that this has ended?” It’s about flipping the script from focusing on loss to focusing on possibility.

Here’s a relatable scenario. Picture this: you and your best friend from college have drifted apart. You used to hang out all the time, but now you barely text each other. It feels like the end of an era. Instead of clinging to what was, think about what this ending frees you up for. Maybe you’ve got more time to invest in a new hobby, or perhaps it’s a chance to meet new people who share your current interests. The end of that close friendship? It might be the beginning of another, even more fulfilling connection.

In the end, it’s all about flow. Life moves in cycles, and each ending is just the beginning of something new—sometimes something even better. Keep that in mind the next time you face a big change. It might just make the transition a little bit easier to handle.