The Car

June 26, 2019

By Dr. Michael Kane

I donated one of my cars to the Salvation Army.  As I watched the driver load my 2000 compact car onto his tow truck it brought back many memories.  After 119,518 miles, 19 years, three teenage drivers, and several fender benders, it was time to retire the car. 

All three of my girls learned to drive in this car.  On Saturday mornings we would practice driving around the empty stadium parking lot.  Through the grinding of the gears, near misses of curbs and sidewalks, and the screams and tears, they finally mastered the art of driving, and grasped the feeling of freedom that only a car can give. 

My girls are now in their twenties and embarking on their own journeys.  When I told them about donating the car, they protested that I could not do that to their favorite car.  I said, it was a “necessary ending.”  Henry Cloud, in his book Necessary Endings, says that “Today may be the enemy of your tomorrow.  In your business and perhaps your life, the tomorrow that you desire and envision may never come to pass if you do not end some things you are doing today.”

We fear failure in the marketplace.  The loss of a job or relationship.  It takes courage to step out and end things that are familiar or comfortable, but that are holding us back.  Each of has something that requires a necessary ending.  It may be a habit, an attitude, or situation that we refuse to face.  We must remember that the best tomorrow can only come from our willingness today to make necessary endings.