ending chapters
It can be scary to bring chapters in our lives to an end. But, in 2026, commit to allowing chapters that need to conclude to do so.
You don’t need to start a new chapter today, just because it’s January 1st. Your new chapter may not need to begin until March, July, or even December. The only “when” that matters for your new chapter(s) is when it is right for you.
Yesterday, my wife, Ang, announced that a twelve-year chapter of her life would be ending at the end of January.
In the fall of 2013, she established Roman & Leo, LLC, and in March of 2014, she rented space in another boutique to establish her first physical presence for an all-boys boutique, named Roman & Leo after our two oldest boys (Silas wouldn’t come along until 2017). For twelve years, she poured everything she had into her store—managing both a retail store (that moved to a bigger location in 2019) and an online store from a single inventory, doing all of the purchasing, processing payroll, creating all of the social media, and everything else that goes into running a retail store.
She could have continued to do all of this, but as our boys have gotten older, no longer are in the sizes she carries in her store, and she has evolved as an individual, mother, wife, and entrepreneur, her passion and vigor for the business has declined–I’ve witnessed it firsthand. That’s not a bad thing. The change in her passion for her business was the signal that this chapter of her life was coming to an end–and unlike so many people, instead of fighting what she already knew, she accepted that it was time for a new chapter. She summed this up beautifully in this Instagram post she shared yesterday.
What’s next?
She doesn’t know.
She’s embracing the unknown with a few possibilities in mind, but nothing remotely close to being an option to consider. She’s living my favorite Kendrick Lamar quote, “there’s beauty in completion, and always faith in the unknown.” We’re going to sit down in a couple of days to record an episode of AlignedLife in her boutique about her decision and everything that went into it–I hope it helps listeners and viewers who are close to ending a chapter navigate their decisions and move into the next chapter of their lives.
The next chapter may be a short one–one about self-exploration, experimentation, and surrendering to what is supposed to be next, but it starts in just a few weeks.
Not every chapter needs to be as dramatic or “big” as my wife’s. Sometimes the end of a chapter is simply how you treat your Self or who you hang around with. You’ll know when it’s time to wind down a chapter, and I hope that you allow your Self to end the chapter on your terms, with dignity, and enter into the unknown of the next chapter with confidence, excitement, and faith.
Here’s to no longer drawing out chapters in our lives in 2026 (and beyond).
See you tomorrow and keep pursuing,
JC
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