Between Start and Finish

Beginning. Middle. End.

The basics of story in three words.

Actually… the basic plot of life exists in those three words as well.

Beginning.

Middle.

End.

So where do we spend most of our time?

With all the New Year hoopla (and recently turning another year older) I’ve heard this phrase whispering in the ‘what matters most’ wrinkles of my mind…

 

Living in the middle.

 

It’s what we do, or don’t, with the middle that will make our life, our work, our creativity, our parenting, our                                     matter most.

Granted, a strong start and a strong finish can’t be discounted. But…

+You can leave the starting blocks poorly and still win the race.

+There are a lot of weddings…

+Sunrise and sunset take only a few minutes.

+You can finish only when the start and the middle are completed.

The middle is where the work gets done.

The middle is where the satisfaction is found.

The middle is where we do our growing.

The middle is where we live.

I’m all for starting out, starting over and finishing strong. But so what? Anyone can start something and a lot of people finish. A lifetime of starting makes nothing but fragments.

Yet, if you’re reading this, I’d imagine your somewhere between 18 and 108. You’re in the middle.

In this season of beginnings, what are you continuing with a fresh crispness that brings life to the midddle-ness of it all?

Living Intentionally,

AZ

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Author: Andrew Zahn

I'm a son, husband, dad, business owner, actor and good sleeper/eater. On this blog, I pave a highway for creative growth by providing food, water, and shelter for those wishing to live, work, and play with creative zest.

11 thoughts on “Between Start and Finish”

  1. Great post. I really like your “Sunrise and sunset take only a few minutes” quote. That really puts the rest of the day in perspective. I also just noticed that your initials are the beginning and end of the alphabet. Hmmm….

    1. Yeah Andy! Good point. I should’ve played that up more on the AZ thing… ah well.

      The ‘alpha and omega’ I am definitely not.

  3. Andrew, this is a great post. Many times the middle is the most ignored part. This post really goes hand in hand with the book Do the Work by Pressfield. I highly recommend it to everyone.

    1. I’ve read Pressfield but haven’t read Do the Work yet. I’ll check it out. Thanks for the recommendation (and for reading!) Jim.

  4. Wonderful perspective and thoughts.

    Working in the middle allows projects and goals to be accomplished. It produces results if we chose to start and then work toward accomplishing what we set out to do. That takes working in the middle.

    1. So many of us just like coming up with ideas… implementation is the sticky, muddy goodness where all the diamonds get roughed out.

      Thanks for dropping by Dan.

  5. If 108 is my “end” I’ll be quite pleased!
    I’m aiming for the fresh crispness you speak of, Andrew. The worst is when I’ve caught myself getting cozy in the middle, not realizing that, like you said- this is work gets done! This is the balogna of the sandwich. May we all live some meaty lives.

    1. Andrew! Thanks for dropping by!

      Shouting: Hey, everyone! Read Andrew’s blog! He’s traveling the world and doing amazing things!

      🙂

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