The Good In Goodbye

Today was the day we handed in our Learning Journals for one of the Young Leadership Programmes I’m enrolled in this year. When we were first told to do them, I questioned the value of this task. But writing mine really helped me to understand why they are used as a tool to grade us.

I got to see how journaling what we’ve learnt throughout the year and documenting how those lessons have aided in making us better professionals, gave the moderators a better idea of how we interpreted and implemented what we were taught. I realized this was a fair expectation in order for them to fully decipher how much of the core concepts we were able to grasp.

The more I wrote, the more I was able to trace how 2015 has been a year of many great firsts for me; only because of  all the helpmates (peers and facilitators) I worked with in the last twelve months.

So today became the day, I poured my heart out on paper, detailing how the past couple of months have led me to many beautiful and memorable beginnings.

This exercise also pointed to a sad reality; that our days together as the Class of 2015 had come to an end. Today I got to take a deeper look at the words goodbye and to inspect this ending closely.

I am not able to do that without reflecting on the opportunities afforded to me this year, so I really can’t say ‘good bye’ without being immensely grateful.

The ‘good’ in this ‘good-bye’ comes from a place that’s given me so much pride as a young professional. Looking back at all the times that I fell physically ill from anxiety and exhaustion; all the hectic deadlines; and all the insightful lessons, I finally understand how it all helped me to confront my fears.

Today signaled itself as our last weekend together before graduation, and then we would always remember each other as memories; a part of a past life we once shared.

I get to walk away from these past few months proudly with imperishable life lessons as souvenirs. And for the first time in my life, I get to finally understand why there is good in good-bye.

Cover Photo By: Lutendo Malatji

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Have you ever had any good, goodbye’s of your own?