a new journey has just begun

92 New Beginnings Quotes For Starting A New Chapter In Life

The best way to start a new chapter in life is with the right mindset. That’s why we’ve compiled these new beginnings quotes to help you greet your next adventure with positivity and hope!

In today’s post, we’ll share some of our favorite quotes that talk about starting anew.

Whether you’re thinking about starting a new job or just finding fresh inspiration for your personal goals, these words will be able to inspire you on your journey.

Cheers to new beginnings quotes

“Starting a new chapter in life doesn’t always mean writing a blank page. Sometimes it means crossing out the old one.” – Unknown author

“The secret to life is to have more beginnings than endings.” – Dave Weinbaum

“I don’t regret the past. It’s all learning and growth, but nothing can replace a new day.” – Unknown author

“The first step towards getting somewhere is to decide you’re not going to stay where you are.” – J.P. Morgan

“If you want to go fast, then go alone. If you want to go far, then find someone who will share the journey.” – Unknown author

“The best way out is always through.” – Robert Frost

“Be willing to be a beginner every single morning.” – Meister Eckhart

“The time for action is now. It’s never too late to do something.” – Antoine De Saint-Exupery

“The future starts right now, not tomorrow.” – Unknown author

“If you want to make a new beginning, then throw away your old clothes.” – Chinese Proverb

“The secret to success is thrashing yourself into shape before anyone else does it for you.” – Derek Sivers

“Starting over doesn’t always mean giving up; sometimes it means trying again or discovering something different.” – Unknown Author

“You can never start too soon and there will never be a time where you’re too late!” – Tony Robbins

“There is something beautiful about having the chance to rewrite your future.” – InspiredLifeHQ

“Don’t be afraid to push yourself. You’ll never grow if you don’t force yourself out of your comfort zone.” – Unknown author

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“It’s always too early or too late for something, so just do it now!” – Michael Jordan

“To find peace is like the beginning of a new day.” – H. Jackson Brown Jr.

“Nothing in the universe can stop you from letting go and starting over.” – Guy Finley

“What we call the beginning is often the end. And to make the end is to make the beginning. The end is where we start.” T.S. Eliot

“Sometimes painful endings bring the best new beginnings.” – Shae Ross

“Cheers to a new beginning with a goodbye kiss to the beautiful ending.” – Unknown

“It’s not about the start, it’s about the finish!” – Unknown Author

“In order to find new beginnings we had to learn how to live with endings.” – C.S Lewis

“I refuse that I should waste my life because of a few people or things that are over.” – Catherine Pulsifer

“Starting again is like clearing your headspace and finally getting back in touch with yourself. A chance for a fresh start and an opportunity for change as you slowly wade out into unknown territory once more.” – Pauline Rennie Browne

“It is never too late to be who you might have been.” – George Elliot

“We’re never given a good reason for why we go through the things that happen to us. It’s hell, and it sucks, but sometimes there is beauty in what happens.” – Unknown Author

“The world breaks everyone eventually; those who are strong at heart survive.” – Hemingway

“It seems like this was all just some kind of weird dream from another life I used to lead. And now I’m starting again with nothing much more than an old notebook full of new beginnings waiting ahead.”- Duncan Sheik

“‘Welcome back,’ she said as he stepped inside. ‘New beginnings’.” – Stephenie Meyer

New beginnings quotes for work

“Challenges are gifts that force us to search for a new center of gravity. Don’t fight them. Just find a new way to stand.” – Oprah Winfrey

“We have the power to choose our thoughts and this is what we are thinking about all day long. So, new beginnings start with a decision.” – Donna Richardson

“I’ve always been attracted by challenges; it’s in my genes and I can’t help it. When life hands me lemons, I try to make lemonade out of them… or maybe just drink some tea.” – Unknown Author

“Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end.” – Seneca

“Never allow waiting to become a habit. Live your dreams and take risks. Life is happening now.” – Paulo Coelho

“Many people are able to say who they want to be, but few are willing to change what they do.” – Unknown Author

“We all have a past and we don’t need to hide it. We just need the strength not to let it define us.” – Stevie Wonder

“You can never start too soon and you cannot finish too late if your goal is excellence in whatever you’re doing.” – John Wooden

“Feeling confident – or pretending that feel confident – is necessary to reach for opportunities. It’s a cliché, but opportunities are rarely offered. They’re seized.” – Sheryl Sandberg

“I can do anything that I set my mind to.” – Unknown Author

“Nourish your dreams and they will grow wings and take you places.” – Unknown Author

“No matter how many times you have to start over, it’s better than never realizing your dreams.” – Tyler Perry

“The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second-best time is now.” – Chinese Proverb

“A journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step.” – Lao Tzu

“New beginnings start without warning and are unplanned, but you can be ready for them when they come by following your own dreams instead of someone else’s.” – Unknown

“It never gets easier; you just get stronger as the challenges build up on top of each other so that eventually no one will ever be able to throw anything at you again.” – Unknown Author

“Today is not just another day. It’s a new opportunity, another chance. Embrace it.” – Unknown

“If a new beginning offers itself, it is not always in our power to refuse it: we often forget that this abyss carries us back again from which it had seemed ready to cast us forth for ever.”- Jean Paul Sartre

“The best time of your life was when everything began. The worst time will be when all these things end and something different starts.” – Carlos Castaneda

“The beginning is the most important part of the work.” – Plato

“You know that feeling of a new beginning? It’s like you’re back in school, everything is all clean and fresh.” – Unknown Author

“A new day brings with it new chances for us to finally live our life the way we want.”- John T. Meyer

“Every single job is a challenge. You are walking into a new set, a new character creating a world and trying to get comfortable to do your best work.” – Felicia Day

“A new job is like a blank book and you are the author.” – Unknown

“Think of a new job as an opportunity to make a fresh start.” – Unknown Author

“The best time in life is when you are just starting out with the right people, and it doesn’t matter if things go wrong because everything will always work out. New beginnings take your breath away.”- Nikki Rowe

“Never underestimate the power you have to take your life in a new direction.” – Germany Kent

“In today’s world, new beginnings are a necessity. The old ways of doing things have become ineffective and we need to find new solutions.” – Unknown Author

“Whatever the circumstances, you don’t deserve to stay stuck in an unhappy place from which there is no escape.”- Carl W. Buehner

“It’s not about how far down you’ve come. It’s about how quickly can you bounce back.” -Unknown

Embrace the magic of new beginnings quotes

“The magic in new beginnings is truly the most powerful of them all.” – Josiyah Martin

“If you’ve never tried it before, then how can you know that the new thing won’t be worth your time?” – Unknown

“The true magic of new beginnings is in the moments when we choose to take a leap and trust that everything will work out.”- Josiyah Martin

“New beginnings are like fresh water for our souls. Every part of us craves them. We’re thirsty for life.” – Josiyah Martin

“Instead of sitting around waiting on things to change or expecting others to make changes happen over night, find ways in which you can help yourself by starting one small thing at a time.” – Germany Kent

“And suddenly you know its time to start something new and trust the magic of beginnings.” – Meister Eckhart

“And now I know it was time to start something new,” she said, “to build, for myself and my sons, an even better life than the one we left behind.” – Astrid Lindgren

“Every new day brings with it hope as well as joy in anticipation; each morning offers another opportunity to make changes for ourselves and our lives.” – Joshua Becker

“You’ve got a new story to write and it looks nothing like your past.” – InspiredLifeHQ

“Dreams are renewable. No matter what are age or condition there are still untapped possibilities within us and new beauty waiting to be born.” – Dale Turner

“The most important thing is that you don’t give up. You keep moving, and your life will change.” – Jenna Bush

“No matter what happens in the world, I am still me and my future self is strong.” – Dr. Seuss

“Each new day is a little time capsule with possibilities inside of it.” – Karen Salmansohn

“Trust the wait. Embrace the uncertainty. Enjoy the beauty of becoming. When nothing is certain, anything is possible.” – Unknown Author

“A new life awaits you. You are a little different, and your story is just beginning.” – Unknown Author

“Keep on beginning and failing. Each time you fail, start all over again, and you will grow stronger until you have accomplished a purpose – not the one you began with perhaps, but one you will be glad to remember.” – Anne Sullivan

“I feel like I’m dreaming, but it’s not a dream. It’s real life.” – Unknown Author

“If all you can do is crawl, start crawling.” – Rumi

“Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius and power.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

“This is the time of new beginnings in your life!” – Unknown Author

“A new day starts with a blank page waiting to be written on; full of unlimited possibilities.” – Karen Salmansohn

“If you don’t get the ending you desire, have faith in the magic of new beginings.” – Rita Zahara

“You always get a second chance at the things that really matter in life.” – Unknown author

“No one starts out as an expert; it’s just those who start and keep on going, day after day. That’s what all this is about: doing something with your life despite obstacles, doubts, setbacks or failures.” – James Dyson

“It’s not hard. You simply need to decide where you begin—and then do everything else from there.” – Timothy Ferriss

“You can learn new things at any time in your life if you’re willing to be a beginner. If you actually learn to like being a beginner, the whole world opens up to you.” – Barbara Shur

“It’s always the journey, not the destination. The pleasure is in doing and not finishing.” – John Steinbeck

“You can’t change your past but you can start today to make a new beginning.”- Unknown author

“I am starting over so many times because it is hard to remember that I’m enough just as I am—no more no less than anyone else in this world who has their own struggles.” – Natalie Grant

“Let go of what was; hold on tight to what could be.” – Dr Seuss

“Nourish beginnings, let us nourish beginnings. Not all things are blest. The blessing is in the seed.” – Muriel Rukeyser

“No, this is not the beginning of a new chapter in my life; this is a beginning of a new book! That first book is already closed, ended and tossed into the seas; this new book is newly opened, has just begun! Look, it is the first page! And it is a beautiful one!” – C. JoyBell C.

Feel free to come back to read these quotes over and over again, especially when it comes to starting a new chapter in your life.

It’s always difficult to change up your routine or go through something different than what you’re used to. But once you get past that initial hump of getting used to things, the rewards are worth it!

Whether that means a career change, graduating from school, starting a new business or even moving across country – there is nothing like knowing that this time will be better then before because you’re already doing so much more with yourself.

Which one of these new beginning quotes resonated with you?

What did they make you think about? Let us know in the comments below!

Helping people and eating tacos are my jam! This blog exists to help provide tips and resources that can help you achieve your goals and live a better life. Whether you’re looking for tips on personal growth, fitness, advice on starting a side hustle, or resources for working remotely, I’ve got you covered.

A Journey Just Begun

• Andrew Donaldson

Singing songs of the oecumene —the whole inhabited earth—is rooted in the feast of Pentecost, portrayed in the book of Acts, when people from the whole known world gathered in Jerusalem and heard the disciples singing of God’s glorious acts in many tongues.

Now, as then, we are assured that we are surrounded by the unseen host of the saints of God, who in countless tongues sing with us the unending song of praise.

The short introductions in the following liturgy paint a picture of Jesus’ disciples gathered joyfully to pray as described in Luke’s gospel, and of us standing with them, singing and praying for the world and our mission to it as followers of Jesus’ way. It ends with a litany of dedication to go out from our sanctuaries and our places of shelter to live and to share the life of the realm of God.

This service can be used either between Ascension and Pentecost or just after Pentecost, looking forward to the coming season.

The Spirit Calls

Call to worship.

(If “All Peoples Clap Your Hands” is the first song, begin percussion and clapping here, softly, under the spoken text.)

Clap your hands, all you nations; Shout to God with cries of joy. For the Lord Most High is awesome, The great King over all the earth. —Psalm 47:1–2

“All Peoples, Clap Your Hands” Paschal Jordan, RW 119 p. 26

Resource: “Break into Song,” Episode 1 (tinyurl.com/y9hraem4)

Options “Clap Your Hands and Sing” Hosanna! 32a “Peoples, Clap Your Hands!” GtG 261, PH 194 “Nations, Clap Your Hands” LUYH 216, PFAS 47E, PsH 47

Scripture Reading

Luke 24:44–53

“Comment ne pas te louer?/How Can We Not Praise Your Name?” Hosanna! 23

Resource: tinyurl.com/yd8sv6nq

Option: “Cantai ao Senhor/O Sing to the Lord” LUYH 493

Spoken Words of Introduction

The world that God so loved is all around us. Pilgrims, refugees, seekers, and expats from the whole inhabited earth gathered in Jerusalem then, and they are our neighbors now. They share this community; they walk these streets. With their many different voices, with many different songs and stories, they are the world that God so loves, all around us.

“Alle nasies/All You Nations” Hosanna! 21

Resource: tinyurl.com/yaafuhwl

Options: “One People, Here, We Gather” LUYH 243 “Bān-bîn ah/Let All Nations Praise the Lord” LUYH 588, PFAS 117A

“That Day in Jerusalem” Andrew Donaldson, Book of Praise 278

Note: “That Day in Jerusalem” underscores the mystical Jewish roots of the Christian celebration. Richard D. Leach’s “Hear the Sound, My Friend” in Over the Waves of Words can be an alternate choice to playfully sing the story of Pentecost using the traditional French carol tune “Bring a Torch, Jeanette, Isabella.”

Option: “Spirit of God, Unleashed on Earth” LUYH 237

Holy God, blessed Trinity, as you did on that day of Pentecost at the birth of the church, you pour out your Spirit upon us. You give us visions and dreams, and you bless us with every gift. You have shown us the kind of community that practices the compassionate life of your realm, the commonwealth where your will is done on earth as in heaven.

Give us courage and boldness to tell the story of Emmanuel, God with us, and to live as those for whom the spring of our actions is the love of the Christ:

To walk the way, for Christ is for us the way; To worship you, the living, moving God, in spirit and in truth, for Christ is for us the truth; To live the life of realm of God, for Christ is for us the life.

“Margam Satyam Jivam Nive/Living, Moving, End and Beginning” The Book of Praise 68

Option: “Praise the Spirit in Creation” LUYH 236

The Spirit Intercedes

Romans 8:22–27

“‘Abba, Abba Hear Us,’ We Cry ” SNC 211

Option: “Send Us Your Spirit” LUYH 228, SNC 163

Prayer of Confession

(spoken and sung)

O Creator, in the beginning your Spirit moved across the chaotic waters. You created a world for us to name, to tend, and to share with all your creatures. But we wanted more; we have always wanted more.

“O God, You Planted a Garden” Hosanna! 59 (v. 1 and refrain), RW 119 p. 19

Resource: tinyurl.com/gmfckuz

Option: “Send Us Your Spirit” LUYH 228 (refrain), SNC 163

O Creator, in the beginning you planted a garden where we could meet with you, walk with you, and learn from you. But already we had gone our own way; we still go our own way and then hide from the consequences. We seek wealth rather than commonwealth; we seek our gain rather than the good of our neighbor.

“O God, You Planted a Garden” Hosanna! 59 (v. 2 and refrain), RW 119 p.19

Loving Creator, you created us not to be alone, but to seek each other’s company, to give and receive love freely. And this we do—but we also desire to possess, to control, to fence in and fence out, to hold onto power, even if our grasp enslaves others and ourselves.

But we seek your face, O God, and ask that you forgive us and renew us.

“O God, You Planted a Garden” Hosanna! 59 (v. 3 and refrain)

(Note: The final refrain may be sung in canon)

Option: “Send Us Your Spirit” LUYH 228 (refrain), SNC 163, RW 119 p.19

Words of Renewal

Friends, hear the good news. For anyone who is in Christ, there is a new creation. Everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! —adapted from 2 Corinthians 5:17

“Rombaho/From All that Turns Us from You” as taught by Sharon Lee Ranotahinjanahary, Madagascar

Option: “Sing! A New Creation” LUYH 797

The Spirit Sends

Isaiah 61:1–3

God of liberty, in dangerous times when all around us people are weary and wary, keep us open to your abundant life in all its fresh possibilities. Send us to wage peace, to do your will on earth as it is in heaven, and to announce that your reign has come and is at hand.

“Envío/To the Streets” Hosanna! 83

Option: “We Are Called” LUYH 296 (v. 1–2)

We go out in the joy of the Spirit who moved across the face of creation, who inspired prophets and dreamers, who came to Mary, who descended as a dove upon Jesus at Jordan, who roared among the gathered disciples, and who moves among us with new visions, wise counsel, and abundant life.

“We Are Called” LUYH 296

(If singing the first two stanzas after the prayer, only sing the third stanza here.)

Option: “When Our Savior, Yesu, Went Away” LUYH 242

Sending Litany

The Spirit moves on. Our journey has just begun. The Spirit calls us to travel on. Our journey has just begun. We are called to journey on the way of the servant, the way of the cross. Our journey has just begun.

Will you sing the Spirit’s song in your heart as you follow in the way? We will. Will you follow with the faithfulness of Hannah and the courage of Mary? We will. Will you love sincerely, resist evil, and hold fast to what is good? We will. Will you speak no arrogance, but keep company with the ordinary, the humble, offering hospitality, treating one another with love and respect? We will. Offering ourselves as a servant community, we will walk with God, following Jesus, moved by the wind and the fire of the Spirit.

The Spirit has called us. Our journey has just begun.

“Praise God, from Whom All Blessings Flow” LUYH 964/965, PH 591/592, PsH 638, TH 731/732, WR 34/44/147

• Andrew Donaldson website: www.andrewdonaldson.ca
• Andrew Donaldson, ed. Hosanna! Ecumenical Songs for Justice and Peace . Geneva, Switzerland: WCC Publications, 2016.
• The Book of Praise. Toronto, Canada: Presbyterian Church in Canada, 1997.

Andrew Donaldson is a Canadian writer, composer, and church musician with extensive background in global song. He worked for five years in Geneva, Switzerland, as the worship consultant for the World Council of Churches. His work may be found at www.andrewdonaldson.ca .

Homepage > Poems > His Journey’s Just Begun…

His Journey’s Just Begun…

Don’t think of him as gone away, His journey’s just begun… Life holds so many facet’s, This earth is only one…

Just think of him as resting, From the sorrow’s and the tear’s… In a place of warmth and comfort, Where there are no day’s and year’s…

Think of how he must be wishing, That we could know today… How nothing but our sadness, Can really pass away…

And think of him as living. In the heart’s of those he touched… For nothing loved is ever lost, And he was loved so much.

Memorial Gifts – Love & miss you shirts

Memorial Necklace – Forever Missing You

Memorial gifts – Forever missing you shirts

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Funeral Poem – My Journey’s Just Begun by Ellen Brenneman

Funeral Poem My Journey’s Just Begun by Ellen Brenneman

Read by marc lemezma – funeral celebrant.

This lovely poem is another message to the living from a person who has passed away. This time it is a reminder of more than life simply going on. It tells of a new existence and relationship, founded on the love that existed in life.

Don’t think of me as gone away My journey’s just begun Life holds so many facets This earth is but one

Just think of me as resting From the sorrows and the tears In a place of warmth and comfort Where there are no days and years

Think of how I must be wishing That you could know today How nothing but your sadness Can really go away

And think of me as living In the hearts of those I touched For nothing loved is ever lost And I know I was loved so much

Poetry is written to be shared, read and heard.

Can I share or use this poetry?

The poems I share on my website or social media are original or are regularly used at funerals and are presented to aid those researching poetry for use at their loved one's funeral service.. Wherever known, I do give credit and thanks to the author. If you know the author of any I have marked as ‘unknown’, then let me know, and I will amend the page.

If you chose to share or use the poetry at a funeral or memorial service, please give the author credit.

Many of these poems are original to me; please feel free to share those or use them if they seem right for your service. All I ask is that you give credit to me as the author.

Visit Marc’s Facebook Page

See the list of other Poems for Funerals

Has Just Began or Has Just Begun: Past Tense vs. Past Participle

By: Author Susan Parker

Posted on Published: September 7, 2021

Choosing the correct phrase can be tricky, especially when words are very similar or expressed in different forms. The terms “began” and “begun” are two such words that can be challenging to master, especially when deciding whether you should say “has just begun” or “has just began.”

The correct phrase is “has just begun.” When using the helping verb “has,” a past participle must follow it to create the present perfect tense. This conveys that something has started but has not ended. “Began” is the simple past tense, which we use to describe an action that has started and finished. In contrast, we do not use “began” with a helping verb. 

This article will explore past participles such as “begun” and past tense verb forms such as “began.” We’ll also consider the differences between “began” and “begun” and how to correctly use each word in a sentence.

Meaning of Begin

Before we get into a discussion of “began” or “begun,” we should consider the root word of both, which is “begin.” 

“Begin” means to go into or start an action or process ( source ). Therefore, one must have a starting point to “begin.” “Begin” can also mean that something has arisen. Maybe a problem of some sort has come into existence. Consider the sentences below, which illustrate the word’s meaning. 

• The class will begin at 1:00. 
• The school year will begin on September 1st.
• Let the games begin!
• Dinner begins at 8 p.m. sharp.
• The issues begin when he doesn’t communicate with me. 

Began vs. Begun

“Began” and “begun” are both past tenses that we form from the verb “begin.” Both words mean an action has commenced, but what’s the difference between the two? 

“Began” is the simple past tense of “begin” and means something has started and finished. 

“Begun” is the past participle form of “begin,” and we use it in the perfect tenses together with the helping verb “have.” If something “has begun,” it has already started but not has yet to finish. 

Another example of past tense vs. past participle is eaten or ate. Click here for more information on this .

Simple Past Tense

The simple past tense is a way to describe something that happened in the past, before now. The word “began” is an example of a simple past tense verb. Consider the sentences below, which illustrate the use of “began” in describing a completed action.

• World War II began in 1939 and ended in 1945.
• Our test began at 11 a.m.
• The snow began to fall this morning; the roads are now white.
• Cars began to pile into the drive-in at 7 p.m.

The past tense of any verb will either be regular or irregular. For most verbs, you add either -d or -ed to present tense verbs. Below are a few simple past tense verbs:

• Push → Pushed
• Walk → Walked
• Grab → Grabbed
• Talk →Talked

Irregular past tense verbs do not follow any rules, so you must commit them to memory.  “Began” is an example of such an irregular past tense verb. Here are a few more examples of common irregular past tense forms: 

• Eat → Ate
• Fall → Fell
• Drink → Drank
• Forget → Forgot
• Drive → Drove

Past Participles

You will use the past participle in the perfect tenses to refer to completed actions. To create these tenses, we use a past participle together with a helping verb. We can also use them to form the passive voice, and they can sometimes function as adjectives ( source ). 

“Begun” is an example of a past participle verb. In order to use a past participle correctly in a sentence, a helping verb must accompany it. 

Here are some situations demonstrating how we could use “begun” in a sentence.

• She has begun writing her doctoral thesis.
• He has begun his medical training.
• Now that winter is upon us, the holidays have begun.
• The flowers have begun to bloom.

Regular past participles end with -ed, but there are many irregular ones too, such as “begun.” 

Some common irregular past participles would include: 

• Be → Been
• Choose → Chosen 
• Come → Come
• Drink → Drunk
• Fall → Fallen
• Forget → Forgotten

Past participles do not function on their own but often pair with a helping verb such as “to have” or “to be.” As we previously mentioned, “begun” is an example of a past participle that pairs with “to have” — for instance, when trying to say something “has just begun.” 

When Do We Say “Has Just Begun?” 

You might also ask what the meaning of “has just begun” is. It simply means that something has recently started, and it hasn’t finished yet. A similar phrase would be “has already begun.” If we say, “it has already begun,” then we mean something that has started before now.

When we use the construction “has begun,” we are using the present perfect tense. English has three simple tenses (present, past, and future) and three perfect tenses (present perfect, past perfect, and future perfect). Let’s consider the verb “to begin” in each of these tenses.

As you can see, we use “begun” in all the perfect tenses together with various forms of the helping verb “to have.” Past participles can only stand on their own when they act as adjectives; as a verb, they need a helping verb.

Meaning of “Just” in “Has Just Begun”

The word “just” is an adverb that commonly expresses time. It can mean now, recently, or soon. When we use “just” in the phrase “has just begun,” we mean “has recently begun,” as in the sentences below.

• At nine months old, Jack has just begun to crawl.
• Sarah has just begun to understand a bit of French.
• Oh no, it has just begun to rain! 
• Summer vacation is officially over; school has just begun . 

In other contexts, the term “just” can also add emphasis to a statement or describe something that’s the same ( source ).

• You look just like your dad. 
• I just can’t believe it. 
• That’s just great; my car battery died on the highway. 

All these examples using “has just begun” are in the present perfect tense. You will notice that using the helping verb “to have” means that we will use the present participle “begun” with it. 

Doing so will help if you are wondering if it would be correct to say, “has officially began” or “has officially begun.” Similarly, what about “holidays have began” or “holidays have begun”? 

In both these cases, we would use “begun” because both contain the helping verb “to have.” “Began” is a simple past tense verb and does not need a helping verb. We would therefore say:

• They will sing the national anthem to show the event has officially begun . 
• I feel the holidays have begun when I smell roasting chestnuts.

Helping Verbs

Let’s explore the role of helping verbs a little further. Their role is to help the main verb in a sentence by extending its meaning and adding detail. Helping verbs are necessary to complete the structure of a sentence, and we can also use them to express time in a sentence ( source ).

There are two types of helping verbs: auxiliary and modal verbs. 

Auxiliary Verbs

Auxiliary verbs accompany the main verb to show verb tense or add emphasis. One of the most common functions of the auxiliary verb is to establish the action in a sentence to a certain point in time. 

The most common auxiliary verbs are “to have,” “to be,” and “to do,” but there are many others. Auxiliary verbs can stand alone, but they give more information about time or mood when they appear with the main verb. For example: 

• I have begun to like him. 
• He was winning the race before he tripped.
• She has eaten so many donuts!

In these examples, the auxiliary verbs go together with the main verb to create “have begun,” “was winning,” and “has eaten.” They all provide further information about time.

Modal Verbs

Helping verbs that further modify the action or meaning of the main verb in a sentence to show obligation, possibility, or necessity are modal verbs. These verbs do not change form and include the following:

• Can: I can ride my bike with no hands.
• Could: I could come to see you today. 
• Might: I might see the doctor today.
• Will: I will fly home early from my trip. 
• Should: You should see a doctor if you feel ill.
• Must: I must see you right away. 
• May: May I buy you a coffee this morning? 
• Shall: I shall ride my bike to work today. 
• Would: I would love to see you tomorrow. 

Using “Begin” in Other Tenses

A verb tense indicates when the action takes place. Most verbs have a past, present, or future tense, meaning verbs can change form. You can change the form by simply adding a different ending or changing the spelling ( source ).

We know that the past tense describes something that has already happened. What about the present and future tense? 

Present Tense 

Simple present tense verbs are action words that express what is happening currently or something that occurs regularly in the present time. Here are some examples of “begin,” where it operates in the present tense.

• The sky begins to darken as night falls. 
• My patience begins to run thin as my kids continue not to listen. 
• You might begin to wonder what is going on. 
• The teacher begins her lesson today. 

Future Tense 

Simple future tense verbs describe things that are yet to happen, that will begin and end in the future ( source ). Here are some examples of “begin” in the future tense.

• The online class will begin on Tuesday.
• He will begin violin lessons next month.
• You will begin to understand if you do your homework.

“Begin” in Different Participle Forms

As there are different verb forms of “begin,” there are also different participle forms. 

Present Participle

A present participle is a verb ending with -ing that forms continuous tenses or functions as an adjective. Present participles typically convey current action. The verb “begin” becomes “beginning” when using the present participle form. Consider the examples below.

• The beginning of the school year is fast approaching. 
• She is beginning her college applications as the deadline fast approaches. 

In the first sentence, the participle functions as an adjective to describe the time in the school year. Sentence number two describes an ongoing action — she is in the process of starting her applications. This article was written for strategiesforparents.com. 

Perfect Participle

Another less common form of the participle is the present participle, which we form by combining the word “having” with the past participle. Perfect participles determine that an action was completed before the action in the sentence’s main clause ( source ), as in the examples below.

• Having begun the test early, she sat quietly, waiting for her classmates to finish. 
• She graduated early, having already begun her postgraduate studies.

Final Thoughts  

It’s essential to know the difference between past tenses and past participles so that we can use them correctly in both spoken and written English. Mastering when to use “begun” vs. “began” will help to clarify this further.

“Begun,” as a past participle, requires assistance from a helping verb. “Began,” as a simple past tense, stands alone to describe something that started in the past.

With some practice, you’ll be able to effortlessly use both “began” and “begun” in fluent English, and you will know that the correct phrase to choose is “has just begun” because the helping verb always accompanies the past participle.

His Journey’s Just Begun Poem

By Ellen Brenneman

‘Don’t think of him as gone away  his journey’s just begun , life holds so many facets, this earth is only one. A suitable poem for a grandfather (or mother) that tries to express a feeling of peace and an ongoing adventure to the people in attendance.

His Journey’s Just Begun Poem Lyrics

Don’t think of him as gone away his journey’s just begun, life holds so many facets this earth is only one.

Just think of him as resting from the sorrows and the tears in a place of warmth and comfort where there are no days and years.

Think how he must be wishing that we could know today how nothing but our sadness can really pass away.

And think of him as living in the hearts of those he touched for nothing loved is ever lost and he was loved so much.

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• About Me Andrea Jackson
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Andrea Jackson

The Holistic Celebrant

Her journey’s just begun

Don’t think of her as gone away –

Her journey’s just begun,

Life holds so many facets –

This earth is only one.

Just think of her as resting

From the sorrows and the tears

In a place of warmth and comfort

Where there are no days and years.

Think how she must be wishing

That we could know today

How nothing but our sadness

Can really pass away.

And think of her as living

In the hearts of those she touched

For nothing loved is ever lost –

And she was loved so much

Ellen Brenneman

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• National Gathering

STRIVE: A New Journey Has Just Begun!

By: ECO Team

It was wonderful to be with many of you at the “Strive” National Convention in Newport Beach. I was so encouraged and inspired by the gathering of the body of Christ to worship and the excellent teaching we received. Dana’s words: “We’ve built a denomination, now let’s start a movement” have been echoing in my ears since the Gathering. So many of you travelled long journeys to become a part of ECO. You might be weary and the temptation is to say “We’ve arrived.” But becoming a part of ECO means that your new journey has just begun!

In talking with many of you at the National Gathering I heard a lot of energy and excitement to do God’s kingdom work in new ways and in new places. Many of you are eager to make the 5 Shifts that the ECO leadership has put before us, but aren’t sure where to start. You are all looking for pathways that will help you LIVE INTO the core values of ECO. In order to unleash the laity we need to move our Sessions from the Board Room to the Upper Room. We need to shift our church leaders and staff from being Superintendents of things to being Shepherds of people. If ECO is to become a movement, what is the role of elders? It can’t just be the work of pastors alone.

Elder Leadership Institute is one such pathway. ELI is a holistic resource that exists to equip your Elders and deacons to be effective spiritual leaders who will start a movement. ELI wants to help you LIVE INTO the 5 important shifts that are necessary for our churches to Flourish. We want your church leaders to have a thriving relationship with Christ and be competent in leadership skills.

If Dana’s challenge resonates with you, we invite you to join us for our  Immersion Retreat April 21-24, 2016 .

At the retreat we will be asking and answering 3 important questions:

• Who am I spiritually? (and why does it matter)
• Who am I as a church leader and what does God expect of me?
• How, then, am I to effectively lead so that our church can flourish?

Our goal for this retreat is that each person would freshly encounter Christ, receive solid teaching, and go home with some practical tools to help their church make some important shifts. This will be a life-giving retreat for your pastors, elders, deacons and staff. It can help to kick-start the transformation of your entire church!

April 21-24, 2016 Sandy Cove Conference Center, MD $399 single/ $319 double OR if 3 or more people attend from same church $299 single/$219 double

Who should come?

Your whole Session or Deacon board and Pastor/s ideally and any staff members that would benefit.  Really, any church leaders interested in learning what it means to be an effective spiritual leader. ELI is not just for Elders! (We suggest that at least 2-3 leaders/staff and a pastor attend in order that communal transformation can begin) You do not need to be enrolled in the ELI program to attend. This is a stand-alone retreat and may help you decide if you would like to sign up for ELI as an 18 month long process at your church.

How to Register?

www.elderleadership.org click on “Registration” and scroll down until you see the picture of Sandy Cove. Click “Register here”.

When to Register?

Now! or before March 15th

More Questions?

email me  [email protected] or call  1-800-667-7250 x401

Want to know more about ELI’s whole 18 month resource?

www.elderleadership.org

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When Did Everything Become a ‘Journey’?

Changing our hair, getting divorced, taking spa vacations — they’re not just things we do; they’re “journeys.” The quest for better health is the greatest journey of all.

By Lisa Miller

Drew Barrymore has been talking with Gayle King about her perimenopause “journey ,” and the soccer phenom Carli Lloyd has just divulged her fertility “journey .” By sharing her breast cancer story, Olivia Munn has said she hopes she will “help others find comfort, inspiration, and support on their own journey.” A recent interview with Anne Hathaway has been posted on Instagram with a headline highlighting her “ sobriety journey ,” and Kelly Clarkson has opened up about what Women’s Health calls her “ weight loss journey .” On TikTok, a zillion influencer-guides lead pilgrims on journeys through such ephemeral realms as faith, healing, grief, friendship, mastectomy, and therapy — often selling courses, supplements or eating plans as if they were talismans to help safeguard their path.

“Journey” has decisively taken its place in American speech. The word holds an upbeat utility these days, signaling struggle without darkness or detail, and expressing — in the broadest possible way — an individual’s experience of travails over time.

It’s often related to physical or mental health, but it can really be about anything: “Putting on your socks can be a journey of self-discovery,” said Beth Patton, who lives in Central Indiana and has relapsing polychondritis, an inflammatory disorder. In the chronic disease community, she said, “journey” is a debated word. “It’s a way to romanticize ordinary or unpleasant experiences, like, ‘Oh, this is something special and magical.’” Not everyone appreciates this, she said.

According to the linguistics professor Jesse Egbert at Northern Arizona University, the use of “journey” (the noun) has nearly doubled in American English since 1990, with the most frequent instances occurring online. Mining a new database of conversational American English he and colleagues are building, Egbert could show exactly how colloquial “journey” has become: One woman in Pennsylvania described her “journey to become a morning person,” while another, in Massachusetts, said she was “on a journey of trying to like fish.”

Egbert was able to further demonstrate how the word itself has undergone a transformative journey — what linguists call “semantic drift.” It wasn’t so long ago that Americans mostly used “journey” to mean a literal trip, whereas now it’s more popular as a metaphor. Egbert demonstrated this by searching the more than one billion words in a database called COCA for the nouns people put before “journey” to clarify what sort they’re on. Between 1990 and 2005, the most common modifier was “return,” followed by words like “ocean,” “train,” “mile,” “night,” “overland,” and “bus.”

But between 2006 and 2019, usage shifted. “Return” remains the most common noun modifier to journey, but now it’s followed closely by “faith,” “cancer,” and “life.” Among the top 25 nouns used to modify “journey” today are: “soul,” “adoption,” and “hair.”

In almost every language, “journey” has become a way to talk abstractly about outcomes, for good reason: According to what linguists call the “primary metaphor theory,” humans learn as babies crawling toward their toys that “‘purpose’ and ‘destination’ coincide,” said Elena Semino, a linguist at Lancaster University who specializes in metaphor. As we become able to accomplish our goals while sitting still (standardized tests! working from home!), ambition and travel diverge. Yet we continue to envision achievement as a matter of forward progress. This is why we say, “‘I know what I want, but I don’t know how to get there,’” Semino explained. “Or ‘I’m at a crossroads.’”

So it’s not surprising, perhaps, that as Americans started seeing good health as a desirable goal, achievable through their own actions and choices — and marketers encouraged these pursuits and commodified them — the words “journey” and “health” became inextricably linked. In 1898, C.W. Post wrote a pamphlet he called “The Road to Wellville,” which he attached to each box of his new product, Grape-Nuts. In 1926, the Postum Cereal Company republished the pamphlet as a small book , now with the subtitle, “A Personally Conducted Journey to the Land of Good Health by the Route of Right Living.”

The language (and business) of self-help so completely saturates culture, “it gets kind of hard to trace where a word started and where it came from,” said Jessica Lamb-Shapiro, author of “Promise Land: My Journey Through America’s Self-Help Culture.” Americans like to put an optimistic, brave spin on suffering, and “journey” seeped in because, Lamb-Shapiro speculated, it’s bland enough to “tackle really difficult things,” yet positive enough to “make them palatable and tolerable.”

“Journey” had fully entered medical speak by the 2010s. Many cancer patients recoiled from the “battle” language traditionally used by doctors, as well as by friends and relatives. In “Illness as Metaphor,” Susan Sontag had noted back in 1978 that “every physician and every attentive patient is familiar with, if perhaps inured to, this military terminology.” But now, opposition to the notion of disease as an enemy combatant reached a crescendo. To reflexively call an experience of cancer a battle created “winners” and “losers,” where death or long suffering represented a failure — of will, strength, determination, diet, behavior, or outlook — on the part of the patient.

Many patients “detest” the military metaphor, Robert Miller conceded in Oncology Times in 2010. Knowing this, Miller, then a breast cancer oncologist affiliated with Johns Hopkins, said he struggled to find the right words in composing a condolence note to a patient’s spouse. “I welcome suggestions,” he wrote.

“Journey” seemed less judgmental, more neutral. In Britain, the National Health Service had started to almost exclusively use “journey” language in reference to cancer (treatments were “pathways”). Semino, the metaphor expert whose father had died of cancer at a time when patients’ diagnoses were hidden from them, wanted to examine how patients talked about it — and whether that language caused them harm. In a research paper Semino published with colleagues in 2015, she looked at how patients talked about their cancer on forums online and found that they still used “battle” as often as they did “journey,” and that “journey” could be disempowering, as well.

For some people, talking about cancer as a “journey” gave them a sense of control and camaraderie — buddies traveling the same path — but others used the term to convey their exhaustion. Having cancer “is like trying to drive a coach and horses uphill with no back wheels on the coach,” one man wrote. Patients used “journey” to describe just how passive they felt or how reluctant to bear the burden of their disease. Separately, patients have told Semino how much they hate the word “journey,” saying it trivializes their experience, that it’s clichéd.

But it was too late: The metaphor already was everywhere. In 2014, Anna Wintour was asked which word she would like to banish from the fashion lexicon and she said, “journey.” The following year, Yolanda Foster, the mother of Gigi and Bella Hadid, told People magazine that while she was on her Lyme disease journey, two of her children were afflicted, too. Medical journals and government publications began describing insomnia , the effort to achieve health-care reform , diabetes , and the development of RSV vaccines as a journey. The term “healing journey,” in use since at least the mid-2010s, blew up around 2021. The phrase in news media referenced the experience of cancer , celebrity weight loss , trafficking of Indigenous children , Sean Combs’s creative process , spa vacations , amputation , and better sex .

On the Reddit channel Chronic Illness, one poster eloquently fumed that persistent sickness is not a journey. “It’s endless, pointless and repetitive. There’s no new ground to gain here.” The cultural insistence on illness as a journey, from which a traveler can learn useful, or even life-changing lessons, becomes something to “disassociate from, survive, endure.” It “causes social isolation.”

Although she concedes its downsides, Stephanie Swanson likes to think of herself as on a journey. Swanson, who is 37 and lives in Kansas City, was an engineer by training, with three young children, a career and a sideline as an aerialist, when she got long Covid in the summer of 2022. The things that had made her successful — her physical stamina, her ability to solve problems — evaporated. “I’ve had to give up my career, my hobbies, my physical abilities,” she said. “I’ve gained 30 pounds on my tiny dancer body. I’m doing the best I can with what I have.”

Swanson makes a distinction between “journey” and “trip”: The latter is circumscribed by a start, an end, and hotel and restaurant reservations along the way. She sees “journey” as a way to capture the arc of a whole life.

When she was running operations at a medical center at the University of Kansas, she always imagined slowing down to enjoy her kids more or to read a book, but “I felt like my head was going to explode.” Now Swanson has become a person who must rent a wheelchair for her upcoming trip to New York City, and she likes how “journey” accommodates all the challenging, unexpected circumstances she confronts. “To me, the word ‘journey’ resonates with choosing to be on a path of acceptance but not standing still,” she said. “I’m not giving up, but recognizing that this is the path I’m on.”

Ramani Durvasula uses ”journey” advisedly. A clinical psychologist in Los Angeles who treats women in emotionally abusive relationships, she recognizes how “journey” has been “eye-rollingly cheapened” and has started to experiment with alternatives. She’s tried “process.” She’s tried “healing trajectory.” But she falls back on journey, because it, more than any other word, expresses the step-by-step, sometimes circular or backward nature of enduring something hard. “Arguably, a journey doesn’t have a destination,” she said. “Have you ever taken a hike in a loop? And you end up exactly where you parked your car?”

But Durvasula does object to the easy-breezy healing so many journey hashtags promote, what she calls the “post-sobriety, post-weight-loss, now-I’m-in-love-again-after-my-toxic-relationship” reels. Too many TikToks show the crying in the car then the cute party dress, skipping over the middle, when people feel ugly, angry, self-loathing, and hopeless. “I want to see the hell,” she said. “I want to see the nightmare.”

When in 2020 a Swedish linguist named Charlotte Hommerberg studied how advanced cancer patients describe their experience, she found they used “battle” and “journey,” like everyone else. But most also used a third metaphor that conveyed not progress, fight or hope. They said cancer was like “imprisonment,” a feeling of being stuck — like a “free bird in a cage,” one person wrote. Powerless and going nowhere.

Began vs. Begun: What’s the Difference?

Home » Began vs. Begun: What’s the Difference?

When speaking or writing English, using the past tense can be confusing. There are many types of tenses when referring to events that have already happened. To make matters worse, English contains many irregular verbs that are conjugated in ways that don’t immediately make sense.

This lack of consistency can (and does) lead to quite a few mistakes. One of the easiest mistakes to make is to misuse began and begun, which are two forms of the irregular verb begin .

In spoken English, the two words are often used interchangeably, but in academic and professional writing, knowing the difference between these words is important.

Began vs Begun: What’s the Difference?

What is the difference between began and begun? In this article, I’ll explain the differences between began and begun, use these words in a sentence, and demonstrate how to choose began or begun and use each correctly.

When to Use Began

Began is the simple past tense form of begin. It does not need any helping, or auxiliary verbs , like had.

So, while you might say,

• Gavin began to open the package.

You would not say,

• Gavin had began to open the package.

Began is never used with a helping verb.

When to Use Begun

You could say,

• Yasmin had begun to eat the cake.

But you wouldn’t say,

• Yasmin begun to eat the cake.

If you’re using begun, it needs a helping verb in order to be correct.

This brings us to the differences between simple past and past participles. Simple past tense describes things that happened in the past. The sentence “Gavin began to open the package” describes an event that happened in the past. The past participle describes something that happened in the past in conjunction with other events in the past.

“Yasmin had begun to eat the cake” describes one of a sequence of events. For instance, one could say,

• Yasmin had already begun to eat the cake by the time we sang to her.

As you can see, began is not used with a helping verb.

Begun , on the other hand, is always used with a helping verb.

Trick to Remember the Difference

If you find yourself confused, remember that begun rhymes with one, and since begun is a past participle, it needs one more word to go with it: a helping verb.

Summary: Begun vs. Began

Began and begun are two forms of the irregular verb begin.

Began is the simple past conjugation.  Began is not used with any helping verb.

Begun is the past participle form. Begun must always have a helping verb to be correct.

If you have trouble deciding which word to use, remember that begun rhymes with one and always needs one helping verb in grammatically correct English.

Being able to use each word accurately when speaking or writing signifies intelligence and professionalism. If you’re having trouble deciding whether to use began or begun, you can always revisit this article as a quick refresher.

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The journey has just begun.

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The Journey Has Just Begun (Alliance)

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Completion [ ]

A dragon slayer and a seasoned leatherworker? You do not cease to astonish, hero. I am humbled.

Please accept what I am about to teach you. This knowledge will prove to be invaluable if you are to destroy what remains of the Black Dragonflight.

Create the cloak from the scales of the brood mother. It will protect you and your allies against the incendiary breath of the Lord of Blackrock... Nefarian.

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