The past several days have been filled with many goodbyes. It is a natural consequence of making significant life choices and moving far away. There will be many people I will never see again. For those who I will see again, our time together will be limited and infrequent. I will only have so much leave, and there will be many people I will need to see in that time.

These goodbyes have been emotional. I am not one to show a lot of emotion, so most may not have noticed, but I was taken by the outpouring of affection and just how many people I will miss. When we see these couple of friends in one situation and then those couple of friends in another situation, and so on, it can be hard to get a good sense of just how many people are actively a part of your life. When there is a sendoff, though, and they all come together, it is amazing just how many people there are.

It is never fun saying goodbye, but it is a good thing. It gives honor and respect to the people who have been an important part of our lives. A goodbye closes some aspect or chapter of our lives. Nothing is ever really over, but having some sense of closure makes room for us to move on to what awaits us. We will always carry the past with us, especially the people, but a farewell moves that relationship into a new context.

Is something lost with a goodbye? Yes. The door is closed on what might have been if I had stayed around: the conversations, the adventures, the laughs and the cries, the new friends that might have joined us, and who knows what else.

Saying goodbye also opens the door to many other possibilities: new friends, new adventures, so much that could never be if I don’t say goodbye.

Holding both together is so important. It isn’t turning my back on the people I love; it is opening myself to new people, to new opportunities. I am so grateful for all who have been a part of my life up to this point. I could never turn my back on them. There is so much that I will miss. In some instances, this goodbye will last until the grave.

However, my life still stretches before me, and I am called to something else. I can’t simply stay where I am at with what I already know, as appealing as that is, as much as I would like to. The new adventure awaits just over the horizon.

Aim high!