Necessary Endings by Henry Cloud
Week 3: Chapter 2 — Why Endings Are Difficult
Read Chapter 2 of Necessary Endings by Henry Cloud
Previewing Week 3 of Necessary Endings
Read 3 of 7 discussion questions below. Unlock the complete 14-week guide when you’re ready.
Knowing something needs to end and actually ending it are very different things — in this chapter Cloud begins diagnosing the internal forces that keep us stuck even when we can see clearly what needs to happen.
Discussion Questions
7 questions1.Cloud identifies several psychological and emotional reasons why endings are so hard for people. Which of the reasons he describes resonated most with your own experience? Why?
2.Cloud talks about the role of hope — specifically, misplaced hope — in keeping people stuck in situations that need to end. What is the difference between genuine hope that something can change and what Cloud calls a 'wish'? How do you tell the difference in your own thinking?
3.Cloud notes that many people avoid endings because they fear the grief and pain that will follow. But he argues that the pain of an ending is usually less than the ongoing pain of not ending. Have you ever found that to be true after the fact? What does that experience teach you about how we estimate future pain?