The desire for a clear and unambiguous resolution to a painful situation — whether it’s the loss of a loved one, the end of a romantic relationship, or the termination of a job or stage of life — is a valid human longing based on our need for understanding and emotional resolution. The ability to achieve closure can give us a sense of completion and allow us to better understand our experiences, process the endings, and advance toward the future in healthy, productive ways.
The definition of closure differs from person to person, and it’s not necessarily a linear process. But we can recognize once we’ve achieved a sense of closure when the emotional pain of our experience no longer seems like our primary focus and we feel a sense of acceptance and understanding about the situation.
Closure isn’t about finding a way to forget what has happened to us; rather, it’s a way for us to reach a point where the past no longer negatively impacts our present emotions and actions. When we achieve closure, we’re able to let go, move forward, and feel at peace.
These quotes about finding closure remind us of the importance of resolving past events in order to pave the way for a more balanced and fulfilling future.
It is always important to know when something has reached its end. Closing circles, shutting doors, finishing chapters, it doesn’t matter what we call it; what matters is to leave in the past those moments in life that are over.Paulo Coelho
You start projecting hurt and pain onto yourself when you don’t find closure. Be honest with the situation and yourself, clean the wound, and move on.Jay Shetty
The letting go has / become the forgetting / which is the most / pleasant and saddest thing / to have happened.Rupi Kaur
I don’t care if it’s a sad good-by or a bad good-by, but when I leave a place I like to know I’m leaving it. If you don’t, you feel even worse.J.D. Salinger
Someday you’re gonna look back on this moment of your life as such a sweet time of grieving. You’ll see that you were in mourning and your heart was broken, but your life was changing and you were in the best possible place in the world for it.Elizabeth Gilbert
To truly cherish the things that are important to you, you must first discard those that have outlived their purpose.Marie Kondo
I think it’s important to have closure in any relationship that ends — from a romantic relationship to a friendship. You should always have a sense of clarity at the end and know why it began and why it ended. You need that in your life to move cleanly into your next phase.Jennifer Aniston
We all lose somebody we care about and want to find some comforting way of dealing with it, something that will give us a little closure, a little peace.Mitch Albom
You don’t have to let that one thing be the thing that defines you.Jojo Moyes
So many of us find ourselves saying, “But he was so great!” Yes, and the people who got on the Titanic thought they were going on a vacation. The truth is, things changed and it’s important to remember that they did.Amiira Ruotola-Behrendt and Greg Behrendt
Closure isn’t closure until someone’s ready to close the door.Jonathan Maberry
You do what you have to do to give people closure; it makes them feel better and it doesn’t cost you much to do it.John Scalzi
There’s a trick to the Graceful Exit. It begins with the vision to recognize when a job, a life stage, a relationship is over — and to let go. It means leaving what’s over without denying its validity or its past importance in our lives. It involves a sense of future, a belief that every exit line is an entry, that we are moving on rather than out.Ellen Goodman
I truly believe that closure doesn’t need to come from the other person. You can always get closure from yourself. Sometimes you’re required to do that.Nick Viall
Featured image credit: tumsasedgars/ iStock
