Time To Transition

A few days ago, I was taking a shower when I returned home from work. The water and temperature were perfect. I took my time to get clean and refreshed. After standing there and just enjoying the water for an extra few minutes, I knew it was time to get out. The problem is that I did not want to make the transition between getting out and getting my towel to dry off. For those few seconds, I would be freezing cold. I mean, I could have stayed in the shower longer. But, that would bring up another problem. The hot water would eventually turn cold and that would put me in another situation that I didn’t want to be in at all. So, I made the transition and got out of the shower so that I could continue with the rest of my evening. We experience this more often in our lives than we realize, going through the transition phase. The transition phases of life tends to be uncomfortable. The level of discomfort you experience may be different depending on the event. Going from elementary to junior high school may be a much easier transition compared to graduating high school and leaving home for college. These things must happen in order for growth to occur or to obtain something greater in life. You must make the transition. Amy and I recently made a transition that a lot of you may be able to relate to. We moved into our new home. What an experience. That experience also taught me a few life lessons.

Moving out of an apartment to a new home was definitely worth it. Once we got the process started, there was no looking back. For the most part, life didn’t change too much in the beginning while we were waiting for our house to be built. When it got closer to being complete, then things became a little bit more serious. We knew that we would have to pack everything up, move it, and unpack it again. This is the part that I was not looking forward to. It was time to make the transition. We basically went through everything we owned and had to make the decision to keep it or throw it away. 

Lesson One: You cannot take everything with you when transitioning from one level to the next. We had so much clutter and things that we didn’t need or no longer had a use for. We got rid of A LOT of stuff and donated so many bags of clothes. It gave us an opportunity to take inventory. It took us some time, but with the help of family we were able to get things packed and moved. As we slowly began to move things into the new house, we discovered one of the biggest enemies during the transitioning phase.

Lesson Two: Time was not our friend (in this case). When you know that it is time to make that next move, move. We get so comfortable in an area that we do not move as fast as we should when it is time to transition. If I would have stayed in the shower too long, the water would have turned cold. In this case, if we were not out of the apartment by the date that we said we would be out, we would have to pay another month’s rent. Yes, we did cut it pretty close. Looking back on it (because hindsight is 20/20) we could have started packing and boxing things up much earlier than when we started. It would have made things a little bit more efficient. But what’s important is that we made the move within the time allotted. But that’s not the end of the process. After you pack and move, you then have to unpack.

Lesson Three: Once we had everything moved in and began to unpack, we quickly learned that we would need a lot more goods and services to thrive in our home that we didn’t need in an apartment. Sometimes you don’t know what you will need until you get there. An example of that would be garbage pick-up services and tools to maintain a yard. Getting rid of things that we didn’t need during the beginning part of the transitioning process made room for the new. When it is revealed to you what you will need, go get it.

Making the transition had its challenges and moments of being uncomfortable. But in the end, it was all worth it. The freedom and better quality of life that we have now is significantly better now. When it’s time to make that next move or to take that next step, do it. The transition is designed to feel the way it does because you’re moving between levels. Step out to step into it. Unfortunately, a lot of people never make the transition into the next phase of life. The thought of leaving their comfort zone brings a certain level of fear. Instead of the cold water pushing them out, they learn to adapt to it and stay. Now, they are complaining about how uncomfortable things are but will not take any steps to transition into something new. The cold water was designed to push you out, not keep you in. But that’s another blog altogether. Make the transition and get where you need to be.