I’ve been stumbling around trying to get into a post-vacation, it’s still summer, rhythm. Feeling guilty for not wanting to get things done (even the good stuff), feeling exhausted from all we did on our little trip over the Fourth, and eyeing up the long list of things I decided to “save” to do when we got back.
Transitions are hard. Even ones we see coming: changing jobs, moving, kids going off to college. Don’t we trick ourselves into thinking “it’ll be ok.? I’ve made a plan, I’ve been preparing, I see it coming, it will be fun”. Then it arrives. The THING. It.is.hard.
Transitions are sneaky. The little boy you tucked in last night now has the face of a teenager. It’s the last day – how did that happen? Wait, why won’t my favorite pants zip?
Here’s a tip: Sink into the transition. Whatever it is. Move into it, sit with it, and ask yourself one question “what is it that I want to do right now.” Do just that. No excuses, no whining, no buts, no should’s. Just that one thing for right now. Feel how it feels to let go and step into the flow of that one moment.
The feeling is the key. It is really good self-care, and it opens the door to what my heart wants. It welcomes in the now, and leaves behind the to-do list, the want (to get things done/be productive/catch up/dig through the pile), the longing for life to be some other way (still on vacation, a lottery winner, 6 feet tall lol), and lets me to get at least one toe back into my life.
I tend to want it all – and right now. Well, I want it to be clear, easy, and done yesterday, so I don’t have to think about it or worry. Listening to my heart allows me to take baby steps – micro-movements. Just enough to let in a little breathing room, a little laughter, and maybe even a tiny taste of going with the rhythm of my life.
So maybe the real feeling is transitions just are. Change is change. With a little breath, a little wiggle, just a little movement, transitions can just be.
My Transitions
In my 40’s I transitioned out of a job of 16 years, and a 20+ year consulting career, my husband’s work was based in a different State, both my beloved dogs passed away, I finished a coaching program 8 States away (by travelling back and forth), collapsed from burnout, covid did a number on my mental health, my ovaries stopped cold turkey, my metabolism slowed down, and I re-located my work space to a different part of the house.
I also painted my living room navy blue (woot!), helped create a Women’s March event with 110,000 attendees, found an amazing healer to work with my mental, physical, energetic and spiritual sides, had some epic travel adventures, am launching a business, finally hit 8,000 steps a day, have freaking fantastical boundaries, am working to flip a purple State Senate District to blue, and received the most loving magical 50th birthday parties and lunches that I couldn’t even have dreamed of a decade ago.
Transitions are hard, the landscape looks different, time keeps moving, and I still have to remind myself to just be most of the time.
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