"Great is the art of the beginning, but greater is the art of ending," Henry Wadsworth Longfellow once observed. There is a time and a season for everything and this must be acknowledged by all people. Businesses are constantly letting go of old product lines or restructuring divisions within large corporations. In relationships of marriage and friendship, people do occasionally need to say goodbye and move on to other pursuits. But often we are stuck for a long time, unable to muster the strength or the courage to let go of our attachments.
In this accessible and well-done book, Henry Cloud, a psychologist and leadership consultant, explores the benefits that accrue to those who have the sense and the courage to end something they have invested time and energy in for a long time. There are five internal maps that put a hold on endings: having a high pain threshold, covering for others, believing that coming to the end of something means failure, misunderstood loyalty, and codependent mapping. Cloud puts a positive spin on things when he writes:
"Endings are a part of every aspect of life. When done well, the seasons of life are negotiated, and the proper endings lead to the end of pain, greater growth, personal and business goals reached, and better lives. Endings bring hope."
Using the example of the pruning, Cloud shows that although it seems to be destructive, it is actually a way to keep the plant healthy by throwing away dead branches and giving the best buds a break by taking away others. In chapters on identifying people you can trust, creating urgency, tackling internal and external barriers, having the conversation and embracing the grief; the author show how "endings are a natural part of the universe, and your life and business must face them, stagnate, or die." Necessary Endings by Henry Cloud is a practical and stimulating assessment of this fact in our professional and personal lives.
