Chapters

“Life is a book. Chapters close, but not the book itself.”

You are the protagonist that is living a story. 

The characters at the beginning of the story may not have a big role at the end. New characters are constantly appearing, changing the direction of the journey that the protagonist is on. Throughout the story, the protagonist changes. This change could be positive or negative, but the character will change. At the end of the story, in some shape or form, the protagonist is a different person than they were at the beginning. 

The person they are at the end was completely determinant on the plot of the story. The decisions the protagonist made throughout the story ultimately leads to their fate. 

The story is continuous, but it is broken up with chapters. In the story of life, the chapters aren’t quite recognized until they have changed. The person living the story doesn’t see the end of a chapter until time has passed and they realize that it was a chapter.

But what if…

What if you started to recognize the ending of a chapter? Would you appreciate that chapter more?

When reading a book, the end of a chapter typically presents a blank space from where the words end to the bottom of the page. 

What if this is the moment when the character realizes that chapter is over?

Early in my life I didn’t recognize the chapters. I simply passed right through them without even realizing there were breaks in the story. Then once they had already passed I looked back and realized it. I wished I had taken that moment of blank space to appreciate that chapter. To reflect on that chapter. To think about how the next chapter can be better.

I specifically remember the first time I experienced the end of a chapter:

***

It was the week before I started my freshman year of college. My friends and I had planned one last hangout at the place where two of them would be going to college in my hometown. The one friend, who was by far my closest friend, would be moving the next morning to a new city where he went to college. This friend had changed my life in the four years we went to school together. The person I am today would be much different if this person wasn’t in my life, and I realized that.

Midnight approached as I drove alone back to my home. I thought about all the times that we had experienced through four years of high school. I reflected on the growth I had gone through and the person I was. I thought about the fact that we had changed the trajectory of each other’s lives for four years and now things would never be the same again. It wasn’t that I was losing this friend, but the chapter was ending. 

Summertime by Vince Staples played on my car stereo. At this moment in time, I reached the end of the page and it hit me like a ton of bricks. All of my thoughts simply stopped and I sat there driving home in the darkness. Images, words, memories all flipped through my mind as I reviewed that chapter in my mind.

I started to cry. It was the first time I had ever experienced the ending of a chapter in the present. But I didn’t only cry because I was going to miss it, I cried because I was happy it happened.

That moment, that feeling of a chapter coming to a close has made me realize the importance of appreciating every single moment. In my story, the characters prominent in the early chapters would stay for the next couple chapters, but their presence was inconsistent and limited. We’ll never be those kids again.

And I have realized that it is okay.

***

For so long, I failed to see what was right outside the windows because I was too focused on the road ahead. All I could do was try to appreciate it as I watched it pass in the rearview.

Use that space in between chapters to review the chapter that was. Don’t be sad this chapter is over, but be happy it happened. There is always more to the story. 

The best part about being the protagonist is…

You write the story.

***

Thank you for reading.

I appreciate every single person who happens to stumble across these deep sentiments buried in my subconscious.

I hope if you’re here you can relate.

My goal is to help others better themselves while doing the same.