Transitions. The moments in our lives between one thing and the next. Drive by the same gas station on the way to an important meeting. Wait in line to use the restroom. Unload the groceries so the food is in the house. Most of us can visualize transitions like a line between two endpoints. Each endpoint represents the destination and the transition is the lines in-between. Often, that line of transition is a means to an end. Simply follow the line to get where you want to be, right?
But aren’t transitions more than that? What would slowing down to experience the transition look like?
Because, in truth, transitions are much more than an in-between.
They are the journey.
They are how we got to where we are now. They are how we will get to where we want to go.
Before we step into why transitions matter, let’s clarify what transitions might look like in life beyond waiting in lines or driving the same road again and again. If you’ve ever raked leaves or watched spring blossoms blow in the breeze, you’ve witnessed the transitions of trees as they grow into their next season. This process is not instantaneous and is often messy. But it’s the mess that creates the next step. The mess of the leaves or the blossoms on the ground is not a problem in this transition of growth for the tree, it is an opportunity.
Learning from the wisdom of the trees, transitions in our seasons of life - whether it’s shifting from a school schedule to summer, going back to the office after working from home for over a year, attending summer barbecues and graduations, or stepping on an airplane as we begin traveling again - are our opportunities to strengthen our roots and extend our branches.
These transitions might be exciting and joyful. Totally okay.
They might be messy, stressful, and confusing. Totally okay.
Like the changing leaves of a tree, it is in the transition where we learn to let go of what no longer serves us to make room for what we want to grow into. And this messy process might bring along a variety of emotions. Totally okay.
But here’s the tricky part with transitions. Our minds might try to trick us into thinking that transitions are a problem. Our minds might fill with judgment or comparison. Thoughts like “I don’t know” might ring between our ears. Our minds might tell us they should be different. That we can’t take the next step because we are uncertain of the exact footprint we will leave in the earth beneath our feet.
But remember, transitions are not problems. They are opportunities.
Opportunities for choice. Opportunities for courage. Opportunities for growth. Where we get to practice feeling all of it - the confusion, the doubt, the joy - because as we invite all of it in, we allow ourselves to step through it.
Invitation: this week consider a transition in your life. How might stepping into this transition with full awareness invite growth?
Namaste,
Sara Walkenhorst