Transition

The dictionary definition of transition is the passage or change from one state, stage or position to another. Transitions, even the most longed for ones, can be painful and difficult to navigate.

 

Transition implies movement and movement is a peculiar thing. Sometimes, movement is voluntary and sometimes not. Sometimes we choose to leave the safety of one state, stage or position to move to another and sometimes we don’t.

Sometimes circumstances jet propel us into a place which is, at best, unfamiliar and we find ourselves in transition but transition  is not a destination. In times of transition we are in neither one place or another. We are between landing stages – in what some call liminal space. This is the place where we are no longer where we were but not yet where we are headed. Transition can be disorientating and it can be lonely but times of transition also offer us a gift. For some the gift is the realisation that we are not alone; for others it is the joy of discovering who we really are and what really matters to us. Doubtless there will be other gifts.

 

 

It’s tempting to finish a blog like this by asking if you are in a stage of transition. Truth is that we are all transitioning every day. Today, I am not the same as I was yesterday because I have journeyed with another day and its lessons and tomorrow, I expect to have moved again. There are, however, seasons in life which seem to have more challenging and bigger transitions than others. If this is where you find yourself today then be encouraged – you are heading somewhere and, even in this season there is gift.