"Finding Peace in Life's Loose Ends"
We all have them, don’t we? Unfinished stories, half-written chapters, loose ends we thought we’d tie up by now. They linger, like ghosts of plans and hopes we once held dear, waiting for closure that may never come. For the longest time, I thought tying up those loose ends would bring me peace, as if resolution was the ticket to move on. But the more I’ve lived, the more I’ve realized that life rarely offers such neatly packaged endings.
Take friendships, for example. There are people I once spoke with daily, friends I thought I’d be close to forever. Life happened, paths diverged, and suddenly those relationships faded into the background. For a long time, I couldn’t let go of the idea that I had to rekindle those connections to feel “whole” again. But over time, I’ve come to see that those friendships served their purpose, taught me lessons, and played their part in the larger story of who I am. Holding on, just for the sake of closure, sometimes does more harm than good.
The same goes for dreams. How many of us have childhood aspirations or career goals we had to put on the shelf? For me, it was the idea of becoming a writer. I had all these grand ideas of publishing novels and making my mark on the literary world. And while I may not have a bestselling novel, I find solace in writing small reflections like this. It’s different than I envisioned, but in a way, letting go of the old dream has allowed me to embrace the form of expression that fits me now.
Letting go doesn’t mean erasing the past or dismissing it as irrelevant. It’s about accepting that not every story needs an ending, at least not the kind we can control or foresee. In doing so, we create space for new chapters to unfold, with fresh ideas, friendships, and experiences.
So here’s my reflection for today: perhaps life isn’t about tying up all the loose ends. It’s about savoring the beauty of our messy, incomplete stories and letting go of the need to make sense of every single one. Maybe the art of letting go is really just the art of living.