Closing Cycles ....(PAULO COELHO)

Closing cycles
 by PAULO COELHO

One always has to know when a stage comes to an end. If we insist on staying  longer than the necessary time, we lose the happiness and the meaning of the  other stages we have to go through.

Closing cycles,
shutting doors,
ending chapters - whatever name we give it,  what matters is to leave in the past the moments of life that have finished.

Did you lose your job? Has a loving relationship come to an end? Did you leave your parents' house? Gone to live abroad? Has a long-lasting friendship ended all of a sudden? You can spend a long time wondering why this has happened.

You can tell yourself you won't take another step until you find out why certain things that were so important and so solid in your life have turned into dust, just like that.
But such an attitude will be awfully stressing for everyone involved : your parents, your husband or wife, your friends, your children, your sister.

Everyone is finishing chapters, turning over new leaves, getting on with life, and they will all feel bad seeing you at a standstill.

Things pass,
and the best we can do is to let them really go away.

That is why it is so important (however painful it may be!) to destroy souvenirs, move, give lots of things away to orphanages, sell or donate the books you have at home.

Everything in this visible world is a manifestation of the invisible world, of what is going on in our hearts - and getting rid of certain memories also means making some room for other memories to take their place.
Let things go. Release them. Detach yourself from them. Forgive yourself and  the situation. Cut Cords and Take time to heal!!

Nobody plays this life with marked cards,
so sometimes we win and sometimes we lose.
Do not expect anything in return; do not expect your efforts to be appreciated, your genius to be discovered, your love to be understood.

Stop turning on your emotional television to watch the same program over and over again, the one that shows how much you suffered from a certain loss: that is only poisoning you, nothing else.

Nothing is more dangerous than not accepting love relationships that are broken off, work that is promised but there is no starting date, decisions that are always put off waiting for the "ideal moment."

Before a new chapter is begun, the old one has to be finished :
tell yourself that what has passed will never come back.
Remember that there was a time when you could live without that thing or that person - nothing is irreplaceable, a habit is not a need. This may sound so obvious, it may even be difficult, but it is very important.

Closing cycles. Not because of pride, incapacity or arrogance, but  simply because that no longer fits your life.

Shut the door, change the record, clean the house, shake off the dust.
Stop being who you were,
and change into who you are.

What would you put in the jar first - Sand or Golf Balls ?

[ from an e-mail] When things in your life seem  almost too much to handle, When 24 Hours in a day is not enough, Remember the mayonnaise jar and 2 cups of coffee. A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some  items in  front of him. When the class began, wordlessly,  he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students, if the jar was full. They agreed that it was. The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar.   He shook the jar lightly.  The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full.  They agreed it was. The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with a unanimous 'yes.' The professor then produced  two cups of coffee  from under the table and poured the entire contents  into the jar,  effectively filling the empty space between the sand.  The students laughed. 'Now,' said the professor,   as the laughter subsided, 'I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the important things -  family, children, health, Friends, and Favorite passions – Things that if everything else was lost and only they remained,  Your life would still be full. The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, house, and  car. The sand is everything else --The small stuff. 'If you put the sand into the jar first,'  he continued, 'there is no room for  the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff,  You will never have room for the things that are important to you. So ... ... Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play With your children. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your partner out to dinner. There will always be time to clean the house  and fix the disposal. 'Take care of the golf balls first -- The things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.' One of the students raised her hand and inquired  what the coffee represented. The professor smiled..'I'm glad you asked'. It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life  may seem, there's always room for a couple of cups of coffee with  a friend.'