Change. It’s constant. It’s normal and unavoidable as we move through our lives. These past few years have certainly brought unexpected, life altering, sudden changes, running parallel or perhaps taking the stage of our own life changes.
How we respond to change and transitions usually depends upon what type of change we are facing and our own story of change. Sudden, unpredictable change knocks most of us off center in a variety of ways with a full range of psychological, emotional and physiological responses, such as uncertainty, fear, doubt, stress, anxiety, perhaps depression and panic.
We are now entering into the change of seasons from summer to fall, a time of predictable change, shorter days, the turning of the leaves, of harvest, and for some like me, it means serious winter preparation of firewood and hay and maintenance that can’t be done under blankets of snow. As we transition into the darker time of year, we are at a prime time of looking within, at where we have been, especially these past few years, what changes are happening to us personally, where we are going. With so much change it can leave us wondering who we are. Have you ever wondered where did parts of you go? Parts such as the fun, carefree parts? With intense and sudden change, we may enter into survival mode and forget our true essence. Who are you in the midst of change or who or what have you been told that you have to be? Are there parts of you left behind or forgotten? Sometimes we might not even know our true essence.
Today we are experiencing the change of seasons under a very heavy blanket of continued gritty change in our world. Now is a good time to take a look at our harvests and gems of this journey so far, to find the grace and reclaim your true essence. And, to honor and release that which we no longer want to carry so that it does not get in the way of how we move into and through change.
Change whether gradual or sudden, smooth and gradual, or abrupt and unpredictable can be uncomfortable and bring up feelings of fear and uncertainty and our unfinished business from the past. Our strong desire to move away from pain and discomfort can send us into rushing into a change. When we rush into change, into the new, we often end up exhausted, frustrated, stressed and perhaps find ourselves experiencing the same old story once again. The unfinished business of our stories gets in the way of completing today’s transitions and changes. Rushing on and into the next thing, the next job, the next partner, the next…often prevents us from doing what it takes to find out who we truly are if the old stories are not running the show. And sometimes we struggle through change trying to be someone we are not, someone others told us overtly or subtly that we had to be.
How do we do we move through change without dragging our story of unfinished business with us or without creating more of it?
I invite you to reflect on your own process of change, whether sudden or gradual:
What is changing in your life?
Who do you need to be?
What part of your essence can support you?
How to you want to move through change?
Where are you flexible, resilient?
What do you need to finish so that you can move forward?
What is holding you back? Where do you feel stuck?
What needs nurturing in order to fully step into the new?
May you move through change with Grit and with Grace!
We are here to support you during your life changes and beyond. Check out our upcoming Change & the Essence of You Fall Intensive for women below. We would love to have you join us!
In Joy,
Brenda