“All good things come to an end.” Have you ever used this phrase? If the answer is yes, can you remember why? Maybe some of the reasons I can try to guess myself. Perhaps once when you said goodbye to friends, desks, and school, when you finished high school. Then, when you said goodbye to the university student in you leaving university with a degree in hand. When you said goodbye to your big love, who was leaving for who knows where. Even when you say goodbye to summer every August when September arrives.
At whatever age you are, you have certainly experienced farewells or completed a chapter of your life. But the question is: how do you experience “the last episode of the season” every time? With tears in your eyes and a pack of tissues because your favorite show is over? Or perhaps are you full of satisfaction and ready to start the next one? So, this is a frequent phenomenon: the end of a pleasant period combined with the sadness which sometimes possesses people.
The grief into which some people are plunged when forced to come face to face with any type of end is indeed unbelievable. In the face of the fear for the new and the loss of an already familiar safety there are those who are overwhelmed with negative and pessimistic thoughts. People who flinch and remain either stationary or inactive for some time, essentially until they manage to make the decision to organize a new beginning. Suddenly, as if the cognitive and emotional ability of a potential insight is blocked and a wall rises, beyond which they cannot see.
Of course, something new is always scary. Consider that from the very first moment of birth the baby’s cry indicates fear due to the change of the existing environment. Therefore, it seems perfectly normal and human to be afraid, when we are forced to change our givens, especially when they seem ideal. The power of habit and the demandingness of a “reprogramming” of the brain are undoubtedly two elements that render anything new a potential threat.
But what will happen if during this programming, you activate these magical, in my opinion, human “functions” called optimism, courage, and boldness? These are elements which along others constitute “mental resilience,” meaning humans’ ability to overcome and manage difficult and bad situations. So, you could note the landmark concept I just gave you since this is a way to fortify yourself and be ready for every new condition you will have to deal with.
Every person without exception feels strangely and maybe unpleasantly when anything has to “end;” when the time comes to close the circle and change their favorite habits. And it is certainly understandable at that moment to roll some tears. But it would be a good thing that this “rubbish in the eye” should not remain there forever and be an obstacle to a new beginning. Like there is only one way in life to have fun and now “the ship has sailed.”
Of course, things are not this way. Yes, “all good things come to an end.” But this does not mean that better things won’t come. That’s why at every end you should smile, slyly wink to the good things that have passed and dare to be ready for a better future. Besides, you know it yourself. Summer may go, but every year a new one comes. Have you ever spent a year without summer? I find that impossible…
“The scariest moment is always just before you start.”
STEPHEN KING, AMERICAN MYSTERY AND HORROR WRITER
Photography by Eleni Santoli