With our younger son off to college, my wife and I have entered the phase called the “empty nest.” I don’t know who invented that phrase, but I don’t much care for it. “Empty” implies that “there’s no one there.” Actually, there are two healthy, happy, positive-thinking adults in the “nest” who are looking forward to new adventures. There’s nothing “empty” about our nest.
I think of life as a series of book chapters, each telling an important part of the whole story. Each chapter has its good and bad parts, and no chapter is inherently any better than the others. Every chapter will be largely what we make of it.
Our happiness depends on accepting whatever chapter we happen to be in. We can grieve what we’ve lost, but we also need to embrace the opportunities and adventures that are to come.
So if you have recently passed from one phase of life to another, accept where you are and enjoy the blessings that your current life has to offer.