“Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end….” -Seneca

It is a new beginning at Good Clean Love. The management team that has been running the business has resigned and the business has fallen again squarely on my shoulders. It was a surprising turn of events that caught me off guard and set me searching for my balance. I knew my frustration with our different communication styles was wearing on me, but I didn’t realize how much it was wearing on them as well. We often don’t know how close to the precipice we are standing.

Besides that, when the communications finally opened up, it became clear that the underlying conflict was one of values and core philosophy, which is why the conflicts were so charged and so difficult to bridge. Parting ways and acknowledging how things fall apart is one of the great lessons that life teaches. The truth is that you never know when you start something if it is going to work or not. All we can really do is go into something with our best intentions and willingness to explore.

It is in the doing that you learn where the divides are and also whether the people involved are willing to do the vulnerable and taxing work of relating, of finding a bridge. Some people expect this process to be a one time deal; other people anticipate the bridging work to be ongoing. Sometimes the different approaches require too long a reach.

Transitions that change the fabric of a situation are nothing if not a practice in true groundlessness. All the hours of meditation practice that came with this positivity quest came to my aid today as I worked to stay present with the alternating bouts of fear, overwhelm and relief inherent in this kind of change.

Another lesson from practicing positivity  is that creating a storyline about any of it is not helpful. Significant life changes have nothing to learn from guilt or recrimination. Life happens and the best we can do is show up with our whole heart to bear witness, to express gratitude, to honor and to say good bye.

It is a powerful moment when we see it for what it is and let it be what it is. It is the path of a spiritual warrior.