Learning to say good bye...

Saying goodbye is one of the hardest thing in the world. I always have mixed feelings about moving on. While it is obvious that everything in life is temporary ( including life itself); we tend to get attached. Attached to people, places, situations and this attachment causes a lot of grief.

I am moving on from my current job and also from Bangalore. The city in which i have lived for 26 years. I am also leaving behind many friends, my family and many memories - both good and bad. The last time i had to say goodbye was to Istanbul, a city i fell in love with. Just after five days in the city; i had started to feel that i belong to the city. There was a certain sense of attachment that i developed for the city and as i was boarding the flight to return to India, i felt strange, almost melancholic about leaving the city i had started to like so much.

When one is saying goodbye, a few things are happening : firstly, one is sad that the familiar is going away. One is moving away from the comfort zone. There is nervousness about what awaits us. Perhaps, some anxiety too. I think it is a state of mind. If one looks at it objectively and is able to visualise what the future holds - and try to look at the brighter side of life; saying goodbye isnt such a hard thing.

I also remember the day when I had to move away from my parents home ( when they divorced), I was not too young; but young enough to feel the impact of the move. I remember crying almost the whole day. It was such a jolt to imagine not living in the same home where i had grown up. But i mustered the courage to hold on, imagine that all that happens is for the good; and that there is a much larger plan that all of this is leading to; and in the end, everything will be ok.


It can be a positively enriching experience. Even where people are concerned, if one is able to say goodbye graciously and with no bitterness ( even if they have hurt you or been mean), it reinforces the faith that one has in humanity and in goodness. This can also be an act of discipline.