The End

“Part of every journey is the end.”

I remember hearing this quote for the first time and not understanding what it meant. “Why should something end if it’s good? It should go on forever,” said a defiant young Gasser. It boggled my mind when people willingly (or unwillingly) ended something that they loved to do.

I recently had an experience in my life that made me understand just how important this quote is because (and I’m not too proud to admit this) it took me a couple of decades to figure it out.

If you read my post on why I decided to switch my career, then you know that I had a quarter-life crisis that prompted me to rethink the degree I studied in college and whether it was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.

Well, I was fortunate enough to land a summer internship doing video production work to get hands-on experience in the field I desire and see if it was something that I enjoy doing (spoiler: yes it is). Beyond that, I got to work with a fantastic team that made me love the job and the field even more than I already have. So much so that I dreaded leaving the company and returning to school.

Don’t get me wrong: I’m incredibly grateful for the opportunity to go to grad school and learn on a higher level than I was used to in undergrad. But there was just something about working in the field I enjoy that made me wish I would quit academia entirely and learn through experience rather than textbooks.

Although my experience working was brief, I learned so much in such a short time. From what type of gear to use, adjusting technical settings in the camera, using lighting to create a flattering image, and making sure that the story we were telling guided all of our creative decisions, I found myself doing something I had never done before in any prior experience: having fun.

So, you can imagine my disappointment when the end of my internship was near. While the clock on the experience was ticking, it gave me clarity on my career goals and allowed to make great connections with talented people. That’s when I understood why every journey must end. The end allows us to look back and reflect on what we just went through and it opens our eyes to other opportunities we may have never seen if we continued on our path.

That’s why I always try to remind myself that the end of something just creates a new path to a new experience that will teach me more than I could imagine. Whether I like it or not, life will always have highs and lows that take me along for a wild ride. That is something that I unfortunately cannot control.

What I can control, however, are my attitude and actions.

Taking every experience in stride and making the most of it is probably one of the most important lessons I have learned in my life so far. Whether an experience or journey lasts a decade or just a couple of days, soaking it in and learning from it is the only thing that will make it worthwhile.

It doesn't matter if an experience is fantastic or horrendous; make the most of it while it lasts. You will learn a ton from each one you go through and those lessons will stick with you through the years. While an experience may have an end date, it doesn’t mean that your goals or ambitions should.