Transition is a funny thing. It’s a constant in life and yet only when there are major changes – real or imaginary-taking place do we recognize it as transition. As a kid, I could not wait for my age to hit 2 digits. I would officially be getting older, and WOW was that going to be grown up, exciting and freeing. As a junior in high school I couldn’t wait for my weight to hit 3 digits. All the girls had beautiful figures and I was a stick just waiting to fill out. I “knew” that hitting 3 digits would do it yet that seemed impossible no matter how many ice cream sundaes I saved up for and bought on Saturdays thinking “Today is the day!!!“
Neither of those may apply any longer but the excitement of hitting new goals and transitioning to new levels remains, and I never want to lose it. Today, in looking beyond the simple destinations such as age or weight, I have come to truly see the real gifts that are developed as we go through these transitions. Those gifts that are developed along the way, or even after we have transitioned and are living our next adventure, our next stage of life, or of our careers, and yet they can be the real gifts in this process of change.
How many of you have taken a new job or moved to a new city with some fear and dread and later discovered this was an opportunity of a lifetime that caused you to meet your life-mate, to find a job or organization that fits you so much better than where you left? Or caused you to discover interests you never knew you had and that allowed you to flourish in ways you never would have dreamed possible?
How many have dreaded the “empty nest” while also looking forward to the simplicity after the kids were gone? A transition wanted and yet not… How many of you have then discovered you can pursue interests, travel, and skills you have always wanted on some level yet never had “permission” or the courage to pursue?
Sometimes in working within one organization, over the years we develop work patterns, styles of relationships, and an approach to business that we outgrow or don’t like anymore yet we don’t have the energy or strength to change. By moving to another organization, you truly have the opportunity to begin anew. You have the chance to define or redefine who you want to be in this new job. How you want to approach it… Is it still a burden for you to carry as previously or can it become a chance to lead with purpose, passion, and power?
Can you bring in a coach or confidante to support you in growing and going further? Recognize you can survive transitions and collapse in gratitude when they are “finally over” or you can use them as opportunities to start fresh, to come alive, and to live as if this was your last year ever.
I am calling you to look at the transitions you choose to make daily, to be less argumentative, less frightened, less inclined to rush through life and to be more inclined to follow your dreams. Some transitions are just fun and absolutely liberating. I pray those transitions become your norm.
Call me, the Transition Guru, when you are ready to truly live a life of endless movement forward with greater and greater freedom to become the you that you can most enjoy!
