Making Friends with Transition

Transitions can be brutal, yet many of us don’t give ourselves the credit for what we are truly going through. Instead we hid from the emotions like they are some creepy monster that is going to eat us. We consume our time with meaningless activities, hide behind objects such as a bottle to erase the truth that evolves within us, and simply ignore it when it comes knocking on the door.

Transitions can occur in the simplest fashion… These kind can be the easiest to tackle if you aware, but typically we don’t deal with them until our bag is full with emotions that we have carelessly thrown away like some moldy banana. Then all the sudden that bag of moldy bananas seeps into the carpet; the stench and stains ruin the carpet, and now we’ve got a bigger problem to deal with… Sometimes, as hard as it may be, it’s best to just eat the banana when it starts to turn brown instead of letting it rot…

The most difficult transitions to deal with are the big ones. The complex changes that we are totally aware of, and due to fear of actually feeling the emotion’s authenticity, we run from it instead. We put on our track suits, strap up our cleats and begin our long haul around the track that ends where it begins.

The other day I caught myself on the track all suited up and ready to start jogging. I literally manipulated my train of thought to not think about the fear I felt in my gut, and picked up a book to read instead. I started reading, and instantly the problem was gone, I successfully ignored it. As I kept reading I came across a pivotal part in the book, or maybe it was a pivotal part in my life, either way the author wrote “the easiest things to do in life barely ever lead to anything greater.” A wave of guilt swept across my body, I couldn’t help but to put my book down and think about how easy it was to throw away that fear, rather than to actually feel it and deal with it. It was a simple fear that could have been easily cured if I would have just taken a second to understand it. Instead I chucked it in my backpack with the rest of the garbage I’ve been carrying on my shoulders.

It was then that I noticed I was doing everything in my power to avoid this transition that I am currently going through.
It was then and there that I chose to take control of my emotions before they took control of me. I cannot explain how painless it was to eat the brown banana compared to dealing with getting new carpet.

Anything that undergoes change is considered transition; this means things as little as a new hair cut, to events as big as your spouse leaving you.


“Transition: movement, passage, or change from one position, state, stage, subject, concept, etc., to another; change: the transition from adolescence to adulthood.” ~Merriam-Webster Dictionary

Sometimes we are prepared for transitions, but most of the time we are not. What we human beings need to realize is that change will occur with or without us; it is our choice whether we will participate willingly or not.

As Rafiki says: “Change is gooooood.”