When someone leaves, it's because someone else is about to arrive.

Endings create space—if you're watching

There's comfort in this idea, but it's worth sitting with what it really means. When a relationship ends or a job disappears or a friend drifts away, the instinct is to feel abandoned—like you've lost something irreplaceable. Coelho suggests the universe is orderly, that departure always precedes arrival, that nothing is ever truly lost. It's seductive, especially in pain.

But here's the thing nobody mentions: the arrival might not look like the departure. You might lose a best friend and gain a mentor. You might leave a comfortable job and find a calling that challenges you differently. The catch is that you have to actually be open and watching for what's coming. Some people spend so much time grieving what left that they miss the new person standing in the doorway. The universe might work this way, but you still have to show up.

The real insight isn't magical—it's practical. Endings do create space. What fills that space depends partly on timing, partly on luck, but also on whether you're paying attention and willing to let something new be different from what came before.