It’s a Life of Inconvenience!
People tend to marry change and transition together as though they are one and the same thing. Although they are very much related, they are not one and the same. Much like a marriage – two people, very different and separate but together, joined.
Change and transition are much like that. Separate and apart but related. So what does that really mean and why does it matter? Here’s why….separating the two, helps with how one might transition after a change has occurred. You may not have control over whether a change occurs however how you respond to that change, is within your control.
Change – an event that occurs when something passes from one state or phase to another.
Transition – the act of passing from one state or place to the next.
Change is external to us, something has happened whereas Transition is internal; it is how we respond to the change. That is where your power is.
How you view and perceive the change will affect how you feel and therefore how you experience the change and the transition.
- Transition is what affects us, not change
- A transition starts with an ending.
- You have to let go to grab on to something new, into the new beginning.
It’s at that place of ending where Transition begins. So really the beginning of transition is always at the end of something. And the reason it’s important to separate the two is because it’s at that point in time, when you are at a Choice! Choice? Yes choice.
The End … of a team, of a job, move from your neighbourhood … all are difficult situations, changes that result in your needing to do something new and or different. Doing something different, be it in the way you commute to work or who you work with, requires new habits, new behaviours and possibly new skills. It also relies on experience and expertise already developed.
Transitioning involves knowing what of that experience and expertise to leverage, and what is no longer of service to you. The process of holding on and letting go – is the transition to the new place.
The change may not have been your choice, but the way in which you respond to it IS!
Letting go of what doesn’t serve you anymore, and concentrate on holding on to what does work best for you.
If you can separate the Change from the Transition, you create that tiny little space…. that’s the place of choice, the perspective, and your own view point that opens up new opportunity, potential, energy and movement. Doesn’t make it easy necessarily but it does make it EASIER.
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