…I looked around at the dark, beautiful, empty stage and was hit by a thought:
There will be a last time I will do this. A last time I will see the things I love backstage. A night I will leave the theater and never return.
I felt the bottom drop out of my stomach.
Then I quickly said aloud, “But not yet. Not yet.”
And I felt a warm rush of joy.
Try that yourself sometime: Take something (or someone) you love, and -in your imagination - say goodbye forever right now.
Grieve for a moment.
Then feel the explosion of happiness that comes when you remind yourself you don’t have to say goodbye.
At least, not yet.