Right around the time I finished college, there was a radio hit by a band called Semisonic, called “Closing Time”. It was one of the last songs I ever played on my college radio show.

If you remember the song, you may recall the lyric “every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end”. I read once that the songwriter was actually penning these lines about his child’s eagerly anticipated birth, but it had just the right amount of schmaltz to induce college-ending melancholy for my 23 year old self.

This is what is required for growth, though, isn’t it? The completion of one phase to allow for something new to take root in its place? When I look back, I find it difficult to think of any venture or accomplishment that did not either arise from or require the termination of something previously held.

Those “goodbyes” are often difficult, but definitely necessary. This idea actually brings about another reference to song lyrics - this time from “Best of What’s Around” by the Dave Matthews Band: “If you hold tight to what you think is your thing, you may find you’re missing all the rest.”

Growth toward our own development requires us to let go - frequently and perhaps reluctantly. But the arm extended out in release can also be the arm outstretched to receive.