Time to Turn

We put a great deal of faith in the belief that things work out and life’s predictability is something we can count on. Perhaps that is why change is difficult. The path we come to know so well carries a cacophony of familiarity. Whether it be our home, our office, the commute. Rituals and customs can be as complex as how we envision our next big life event or as simple as the soft, comfy blanket we choose to keep close at hand by the sofa. We humans do this, we dig in, settle down and burrow a path that becomes familiar, predictable. When the path changes, that is where the stress begins to mount.

"The world as we have created it is a process of our thinking. It cannot be changed without changing our thinking." - Albert Einstein, 23 June 1945 interview, The New York Times.

Autumn brings a time of transition; summer is abruptly stolen when the alarm clock goes off at 6am beckoning us to rise and quickly move about our day. Whether it be to pack a child’s lunch or catch the commute a bit earlier due to the budding traffic of fall. Life has a way of swiftly reminding us that long, lazy lounging on the hammock or an extra cup of coffee on the porch will have to wait for another summer.

How do we survive the sometimes-abrupt transitions in our lives? It’s either shear resistance or swift action. I’m often in awe of those who gracefully shift gears between the lazy days of summer and the fervent schedules of September. I simply don’t do it gracefully. You will find me in a state of frenzied resistance; moaning that summer is too short, sunlight is fading, and the fun is over.

We all know and love someone who can’t wait to revel in the pumpkin spice of fall and happily turns in their flip flops for their big comfy sweater, but the rush to sprinkle the world with pumpkin spice doesn’t feel graceful either…don’t you want to ease your way out of those flip flops. I have visions of flip flops being flung to the back of a closet while the sweater is already in hand. We resist or we rush.

“Some changes look negative on the surface, but you will soon realize that space is being created in your life for something new to emerge.” ― Eckhart Tolle

What if we tried the graceful turn, a slow methodical march towards shorter days and cooler nights. The sweater and flip flops go nicely together. Couldn’t we leave the flip flops out for a bit longer, by the door, while the sweater sits close at hand? Sort of an exchange. If only transitions could be so simple.

This past year has been a year of significant transition for many of us. We have had to learn how to emerge from a global pandemic and we learned that we might feel and think a bit differently. We learned that life might not feel the same way as it was before the pandemic. Others may be preparing for their next chapter of their journey, retirement, or parenthood. Transitions come throughout our lives, in seasons and in minutes. One minute we are wonderfully content and the next we are wrought with worry. Those moments pass too. Transition. Always seeking grace; battling resistance vs. rushing. The two alienators leading us to believe that either might take away the challenge of change. Grace sits somewhere in the middle.

Grace in transition looks and feels a lot like love. It is self-care. It is found in the comfort of knowing that the same resiliency that carried you through the last transition will find its way to line the path of this transition. Often it isn’t until we have successfully navigated all the trials and errors of transition that we recognize we have expanded our path, widened the breadth of the road before us. Transition has a way of doing that, the nudge if you will, that beckons the resolve from within, the muscle memory of times gone before us and we begin to adjust, realign.

May this fall allow you to gracefully slip away from summer and look towards another autumn ahead with the reassurance that your path is waiting for you and you, fellow journey mate, have all that you need within you to gracefully kiss summer goodbye and take autumn by the hand. ~ Dawn

“Any transition is easier if you believe in yourself and your talent.” ― Priyanka Chopra