A friend of mine has had the realization that she can't go home again (at least in a manner of speaking).
My friend lives about six hours ride from where she used to call home, where her Mom still lives. She used to attend a church there, and was choral director. When she got married, and moved to her current location, she could do neither. She did however go back during the holidays, and be part of the choir, and attend the church services.
This year, she was told that she couldn't sing, because the choir had to enact a rule about being at practices. The director couldn't let her come in and sing, and force everyone else to follow the rules. At this point, she knew that this would be her last holiday at this church, seeing this choir.
It is a sad time, as this has been part of her life for a long time. Music itself has been a very important part of her being, and it meant a great loss to her.
This is a stage of leaving. We all go through these, at least if we are growing we do. There's the time we move out of our parent's house for one of our own. There are times when we change jobs for (hopefully) better ones. We leave certain groups because we can't deal with them anymore, or because we don't have any interest.
To be able to grow, we must leave things and move on to others. When we leave do we necessarily have a plan, a where to go to? No. Sometimes that has yet to be apparent.
When we leave, we have a hole in our lives. Whatever it was that we were doing, spending time at, we don't anymore, and we need to find something to fill that time. All to many times it is a painful progression.
I guess the key is that there are a few things you should remember when one is leaving...
- To grow, we must leave situations, and find others (even though we may not know that we are looking, or what we're looking for).
- Leaving is not an end, it is a beginning.
- When you are leaving, you are also going or heading to something else. You may not know what that is, but it is there, even if you don't know it.
- Leaving can be painful, or joyful, or both. It just matters how you look ahead. Do so with hope and confidence.
- You re always loved.
- This is part of the growing process. As I was told through my youth, if God shuts one door, he opens another.
- Continue to grow.
- There are people that care about you, even if you don't know it.
Our whole purpose here in this life is to grow and to learn. Learning can be painful. It can also be joyous. We must experience different things to learn, good and bad. Learn them. Keep growing. This is your path. Follow it.
Take care. Love and light to you all.