Endings and Beginnings

One year ends, another begins. One day ends, another begins. One hour ends, another begins, and so on it goes. Endings and beginnings, with nothing in between. So why does it matter? Well, it does and it doesn’t, actually. It is only what you make it. That’s how our lives are in general. None of it really means anything in itself but none of us want to accept that. And none of us should. We couldn’t do it if we tried, really. We all need things to mean something, because if they don’t, we’re left with a puzzle with no pieces. But who wants that? I sure as hell don’t. That’s why endings and beginnings, albeit arbitrary, are precisely what we should recognize and appreciate and grasp with everything we have. The alternative is simply too terrifying. And boring.

So we work with what we have to make things interesting. We take what comes to us in life and make decisions, some wise, some not-so-wise. We’re often taken aback by the reality that it’s precisely the combination of those wise and not-so-wise decisions that makes life interesting. It’s the combination of the good, the bad, and everything in-between. It simply is what it is.

There were a number of deaths or endings this year for me. I lost my father and my paternal grandmother. My car was totaled and my favorite dog of all time, Bessie the Hound Dog, also died. I graduated from Vanderbilt University with my second masters degree. And then there were births or beginnings as well. My brother and his wife had two twin baby girls a week after my father died. I bought a new car. I began a third masters degree at Tennessee State University. I saw a Cardinals game at Busch stadium for the first time in my life, and was able to do so with my father, who also had never been to a game. Without the endings, however, the beginnings wouldn’t be possible. We can either bemoan that fact or embrace it. The choice is ours.

So as I have done each year here at thesecondchance (2005, 2006, 2007, 2008), I wanted to take a moment and reflect on the year. I think it’s good for the soul. As the saying goes, we need to know where we’re coming from in order to know where we’re going. Frankly, I’ve never figured out how to know either one. But again, maybe it’s precisely that mystery of it all - the good, the bad, endings, beginnings, wise decisions, not-so-wise decisions – that make life interesting. So I ask you to stand with me at the cusp of a new year and to turn and to take a look back over the year. Take a glance at it all and reach up and tip your hat. It is what it is. Now let’s see what’s to come. Cheers, my friends.