July 28, 2007
The Art of Beginning…again!
"Great is the art of beginning,
but greater is the art of ending."
Have you ever found yourself at the "end of the road?” Whether it was by your own choosing, or by forces beyond your control, most of us have faced that moment when it seemed that success came to an end and we were left asking, "What now?"
The wonderful thing about endings is that it creates new beginnings and you can turn in a new direction. How liberating that moment can be—the feeling that we can start over again, especially if the ending seems painful or disappointing. We can begin again!
Sometimes we become too comfortable in our own shoes. Comfort and complacency often breed a lackluster attitude. We may forget how talented we really are without the challenge of something new. Sometimes our success becomes a burden to us, filling others or ourselves with expectations that may no longer be of interest to us or that may no longer serve our life path.
Consider the unusual case of Steve Jobs. He was fired from Apple early in the game, and while he found success elsewhere, his ending there actually prepared him to come back and raise the technology company up out of the ashes.
Giving the Stanford University commencement address in June of 2005, Steve Jobs told the graduates, "I didn’t see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life."
So if you are at a fork in the road, take a big bite from that Apple and chew on it awhile. When you’re facing a difficult ending, make sure you go out with moxie. (Courtesy of Ghost Stories-adapted and used with permission)
In the middle of every difficulty lies an opportunity. Albert Einstein
Always remember there is nothing more important than looking for reasons to feel good. Each of us will find what we are looking for depending on what eyes we are looking with and what we choose to cultivate.
Shine on! 
1 Comment on The Art of Beginning…again!
August 6, 2007
“The Art of Beginning…again” is right on. Once you learn to look for the good in EVERYthing, then everything that happens to you is for your greater good, even when at the time, you think it may be one of the worst things to have ever happened to you. Personally, as I look back on my life in hindsight, I can see how everything that happened to me (good or bad) led me to something even better. And through it all, it made me a stronger and better person. I have learned so much from this roller coaster called life, and gained so much more wisdom and knowledge that I wouldn’t have gained if I hadn’t have gone through the up’s and down’s. Each chapter is a new beginning. Now when things happen to me, I look for the good, look for what I can learn, and look forward to where it takes me. It also helps me to keep things in perspective and not to take life so personally. Life is beautiful, life is good, life is what you believe it to be.