Goodbye

On Friday at midnight we said goodbye to January. Many of us were looking forward to flipping our calendars to February and getting 1 month closer to spring’s arrival.

Still, saying goodbye tends to evoke feelings of nostalgia. We often wish for the good ol’ days (as the fictional Andy Bernard from The Office shares in this clip), even if we didn’t wish to be living through those days as they happened.

Regardless of what we say goodbye to, there is often more positivity from the goodbye than we realize.

Goodbyes create new opportunities. Without a goodbye to January, saying hello to February would not be possible. Even more, goodbyes help us to understand our true feelings.

As Nike founder Phil Knight said, “The single easiest way to find out how you feel about someone is to say goodbye.”

As Phil shares, our lives have many people, things and ideas. We don’t question most. Our life gets on autopilot.

Saying goodbye helps us to see our lives differently. Maybe we live in a different place, outside of a relationship or without something we’ve always had. We envision ourselves becoming better or worse. The natural reaction of our subconscious to the disappearance of something is a good indication of how we truly feel about it.

Regardless of what we say goodbye to, when saying it, lets remember that we need goodbyes to grow.

3 ways to consider goodbye this week:

1. Simulate a goodbye: When we are uncertain or have a difficult time making a decision, simulating a goodbye can provide clarity.

2. Regularly reassess: The world changes everyday. We grow everyday. Others evolve everyday. As things become different, periodically stepping back to reassess ourselves can help us to say goodbye.

3. Goodbyes are not bad: Goodbyes clear space for new opportunities. These opportunities are necessary for our continued growth. Saying goodbye allows us to attract what we need to get to where we want to go.

Thanks for reading. Lets have a great week!