We are all always in transition, even as we are often unaware of it. We experience small, personal transitions on a daily basis as we move from one activity to the next, and from place to place – home to school, home to work, to the grocery store and other errands, to the gym, to meet a friend and finally home again.
We experience large personal transitions, as well. Returning to school after summer vacation, matriculating from middle to high school, moving away to college, going to graduate school, getting your first job or a new job, getting a promotion, losing a job, getting married or divorced, having a baby, having the last of your children move away from home, a change in the state of one’s heath and dealing with the death of loved ones all present challenges to each of us at various times in our lives, and are examples of transitions.
Simultaneously, our country, the world-at-large and our environment are in the midst of multiple transitions as the structures we have grown used to over the course of our lives shift form. Our K-12 educational system no longer meets the needs of many of the students it was established to serve. College degrees are often unaffordable, and no longer necessarily a preparation for life or guarantee future employment. The companies we have spent our lives serving no longer promise continued employment, financial security or insure our retirement. At this point we are even unable to count on particular patterns of weather.
This leaves most of us feeling more than a bit insecure and often at a loss as to how to proceed, what to hold onto, and with little idea of how or if we will reach some other side. Some transitions are far larger than us, ones we cannot and need not impact yet need to be aware of and allow.
Dealing with the transitions we can and need to effect is a layered process unique for every individual, and an area ripe for AD/HD Coaching. In a collaborative process my clients and I begin the process of helping them move through transitions by recognizing and defining the personal and particular transition the client is experiencing. Precisely naming one’s challenge organically renders seeds for its solution. From there we move onto the highly creative process of breaking the solution into small, concrete achievable steps that work for each person and the specific ways that each of their brains work, learn and process information, thus creating a plan to navigate the transitions at play. Finally, we implement the steps of our plan, address and attend to the obstacles that arise and create conditions for each individual’s success.
It does indeed seem that “The only thing constant in life is change” (Francois de la Rochefoucauld). This being the case, transitions are an integral part of our lives. It is useful to be aware of the transitions at play in the world around us and to discern these from the ones in our own lives which we can learn to define and navigate and, therefore, move through with as much ease and calm as we desire.
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