The Path to New Beginnings

Too bad most beginnings require something to end, and in my experience, the most rewarding ventures spring from the most painful endings. One could easily get trapped in the chicken & egg conundrum on this topic but suffice it to say, we humans simply can’t take on more without leaving something behind and when forced into an end, the healthiest move is to find a new beginning.

So that’s what I’ve been up to lately – living it, instead of writing about it. To bring you up to speed, in 2005 I accepted a job in Santa Clara, CA – only a few miles from my first west coast job decades ago. The opportunity was significant enough to buy an apartment and hop a 6am flight every Monday, returning on Friday afternoons. The adjustment was huge but my family & friends got in the groove soon enough.

With a self-imposed 4 year timeline, I’d initially hoped to keep my California life strictly professional. After all, it was hard enough to leave my friends when we moved from the state in 1993 and I wasn’t interested in repeating that heartache with new ones. Of course, those of you laughing hardest right now know that resolve lasted about 2 weeks! But I have no regrets.

The experience allowed me some greatly missed face time with old friends and family and exposed me to an incredibly bright, hard-working, earnest and fun group of people who valiantly ride the fast-paced, turbulent Silicon Valley wave from one change to the next with dignity and flair, in the office, at the gym, and yes, even on a bicycle. If it weren’t for the regular 6am spinners at Gold’s Gym and my many after work and weekend ride buddies, I’d have never been prepared for my last 4 rides and I’m happy to have had a couple of them join the AIDS ride effort.

Last week, after 50 months, right on schedule though not quite as planned, the job came to an end. I bought a one-way ticket to San Jose and spent the week cleaning and packing and saying good-bye. It was as wonderful to laugh over memories as it was heartbreaking to stop making them, yet beneath it all echoes the promise of a new beginning.

It’s been stirring for some time and the high cost of this ending seems the surest signal it’s time for “the next big thing”. You’ll be the first to know.


In gratitude for the mighty blessings that consistently move us thru painful endings to new beginnings, this post in particular is dedicated to the memory of my brother, Bret.
July 21, 1959 - May 5, 1995