When a chapter closes, it hurts. It also clears space for one you couldn’t have started otherwise.

An ending does two things at once, and only one of them is obvious. The loss arrives first and loudly, while the space it opens shows up later and quietly. That is why it rarely feels like a trade: whatever comes next could not have started while the old thing still filled the room. None of that makes the ending good; it makes it the door it is.

If something just closed for you, resist filling the gap immediately. Let a week or two pass, then notice what has become possible that was not before. Choose from that list rather than from the panic.