Starting and Finishing

Let me know if anyone else feels this way, but often the hardest moments of anything are the beginning and the end. I like getting comfy and enjoying the middle ground of most things and I actually think that I need a change of attitude. Becoming equipped in starting and finishing what ever I set my mind to is an important skill I need to get used to.

Allow me to explain.

When I read a book, I love the experience. I like turning each page and letting the story unfold through my fingers. But I find it difficult to let go once the story is over. It even spreads to the next book. for a few days I struggle to get into the new book without remembering the characters from the old one. It isn't severe, but I do like to enjoy the middle of a book and starting a new one is harder than I expect it to be because it would mean letting go of the one I just finished. Perhaps that is why I keep so many of my books around me. I never feel I've moved  in somewhere without my library or at least part of it.

If I want to keep up my average of 4-5 books a month for the next year I've got to get over this. In my job I will have to be able to jump between texts familiarly and expertly and constantly. It is one of the reasons I have stepped up my reading goals. I already read a fair bit, but now I am trying to train my self in STARTING books and once they are over, to acknowledge and let them go. That doesn't mean forget them necessarily but I do need to hold on a little more lightly.

For an intern being able to be dropped into any office and get along with the people you find there is harder than you think. Most of us take a few days to warm up to strangers. Keeping quiet, smiling sweetly, keeping your ears open and your mouth shut. Particularly when you become aware of the scrutiny. it is really hard to leave somewhere that you have enjoyed working at and be faced with the uncertainty of the future placement. Like I've said before, you can't know what each placement will be like. I've practiced this a fair bit over the past year! I think I am getting better at it. It has made me more confident going to new places for sure.

And relationships. The middle is always my favorite. The start will always fraught with learning about the other person, and sometimes you don't get much further than that. I've often tried to stretch the middle past where it should be, because if you've got as far as the good bit you've done so well. learning to finish relationships well is almost as important as starting them. you don't want lurking ex's and you don't want past feelings to surprise you because the finishing was not complete, that will in turn make starting new relationships more difficult.

Starting a new job, a new relationship or a new book is difficult; finishing them is even harder, but it has to be practiced, and you have to get good at them all.