As we embark upon a new day every day, we leave behind a legacy of experiences and stories that make up our life journey.
But most of the time, this let go is not tinged with sadness, for we are already looking forward to what the new day has to offer us, with its plethora of fresh ideas, experiments, new visions and a whole lot of unseen moments.
The closing of one day signals the start of another.
In the same vein, life and death are then simply two polarities of the realm of our human experience. But because of our fear of let go, we create a division between life and death.
Yet the undeniable fact remains that the strands of both life and death are intertwined at the core.
The moment we are born, we also start dying.
Yet we are heartbroken and often overwhelmed, when faced with the prospect of death. Then whether it’s the death of a loved one, a relationship, or death of a business, or organization.
Because our businesses, organizations, jobs are much more than just means of earning our livelihoods. They are in fact an integral part of how many of us define ourselves or are defined by others.
So when we lose a job, or close a business, it deprives many of their sense of identity, security, self worth, purpose and confidence. Its feels natural to experience anger, hurt, rejection and often overwhelming fear, more so if the business had been your brainchild.
But amidst all of this turmoil, there is also the underlying realization that each ending carries in its womb the possibility of a new beginning.
For Sufis, death is not an end, but simply another opportunity to reawaken, to let go of all that no longer serves us and discover the true self.
Our attachment to our past, our memories, beliefs and opinions often shrouds our vision, preventing us from jumping over the threshold to a new beginning.
A Sufi remembers that that death and life happens each moment.
He believes in the premise, ‘Die before you die.’
The wisdom here is to live each moment in totality, in its full measure. Then when the moment ends, there is no pain, because living in it has been complete and absolute.
Each moment at work or business then moves beyond a limited expression of self-worth and security, to an experiment in totality, an opportunity for transformation.
Most successful people have encountered major setbacks and failures. Abraham Lincoln endured a steady steam of failures before becoming the President of United States.
Jerry Seinfeld, the hit American comedian,& actor got chucked out from a sitcom role on Benson, and to make it worse, was not even informed about it. He found out about his firing when his part was simply cut from the script. But Jerry continued to do stand up comedy. A Tonight Show talent scout discovered him, and the rest is history.
While Anna Wintour, the now British editor-in-chief of American Vogue was fired from her job as a junior fashion editor at Harper’s Bazaar for being too edgy. She moved on to be a fashion editor at Viva and today molds the fashion scene as the editor of a leading fashion magazine. Talking about her experience, Anna said, “I recommend that you all get fired.”
Setbacks can never hold back capability and true commitment. If nothing else it only sharpens the edge of the bold and confident. So let us not mourn what we lose, but look forward to celebrate a new beginning. Or as Rumi puts it, “Don’t grieve. Anything you lose comes round in another form.”