Today, one of my clients asked how it has been for me to go through transitions. I smiled to myself because I have had some experience with transitions. Haven’t we all?
Some transitions can be smooth, some the polar opposite. Anytime I have experienced the latter one, it always feels rough, clumsy and downright scary. (I’m putting it mildly in some cases I can remember!) Sometimes a mere thought of moving into the unknown is reason enough for fear. Looking back in my life, every transition I have ever experienced was always for the better. Even the ones that didn’t look so pretty.
They always lead to a place of learning, growth and expansion. No matter what it is, this is always the case.
On a foggy day where the fog is so thick that you can barely see in front of you and you have to go out for something, how would you handle it?
Would you choose not to take that journey?
Or would you walk, only being able to take one step at a time unable to see where you need to get to? Most of the time we take that journey without even realizing it. No matter what, it is done one step at a time, creating moment to moment.
Now, but not always, when I find myself in the midst of a growth period or “transitionâ€
I can look around and realize what is happening. Instead of getting sucked into a the tornado of it all, I can be an observer and know that if my house gets picked up, it will land in Kansas, out of Kansas, or where ever it is meant to land.
These are the times when something amazing can happen. Something transformational. Something even momentous. If I can trust that I am on that path, even if I can’t see where it leads, I know that all I have to do is lift up my foot and take the next step. There will always be a path for me and there will always be a next step, I just have to trust that the path is there.
What an amazing movie to one day be able to look at our footprints and watch how beautifully the design has been laid.
Transitions are footprints. Walk joyously and step in freedom…
4 Comments
What a beautiful way to look at it. From the outside as in to look back, to see the footprints and see where our path has led us, and even if it’s the path we thought it would be. You really do look at things so beautifully and in such a way that can be so inspirational to others. To make them feel safe in stepping into the fog or unfamiliar territory – just knowing that it’s okay to be scared but you will come out the other end. And, even the scary and uncertain things in life can teach you something. And in learning and experiencing, we grow.
I remember you once saying that sometimes life takes us where we didn’t intend to go, but if you embrace it, even in the darker times, you may just find a new path that you didn’t expect but could turn out to be better in the end.
It at least gives me hope that, even though people may find themselves in an unfamiliar world or situation, you can still work through it and come out better for having experienced it.
Everything happens for a reason and we might not see that reason untill later in life but it’‘s there. And once you start opening up your mind to this they become more obvious and it is easier to see why you had to go through what you went through.
great blog
Change has a considerable psychological impact on the human mind. To the fearful it is threatening because it means that things may get worse. To the hopeful it is encouraging because things may get better. To the confident it is inspiring because the challenge exists to make things better.
Even though I have already responded to this, I am drawn back to this so strongly as I am now finding myself in one of the most overwhelming transitions in my life, thus far. It is these words, this blog, and the memory of how this conversation and blog came to be that really get me through those difficult moments of growing pains as I adjust to my current situation and try to keep my head above water as I make my way through the transition.
Thank you for everything, Randy! Your writing and perspective are brilliant, as always! I can’t wait for more and more to come!