Ready to talk about transitions and embracing change with love?
Life is a series of transitions, molding and shaping who we are today. Subsequently, are you embracing change with love or are you choosing to hold back and stay a victim to your circumstances? It is a question that we deserve to ask ourselves often; and, quite frankly, we most likely will not get the same answer every time. In this article, I will explore the beauty of transitions in three categories: relationships, beliefs, and money, and if we choose to embrace them with love, we can not only learn so much about ourselves, but we can continue to grow into the person we are meant to be in this lifetime. Are you ready to embrace change with love in your own life?
Relationships
First, let’s explore relationships. I will venture to guess that you have experienced numerous relationship transitions in your own life. Relationships are the most valuable resource we have in this life and yet can cause the most pain for each of us. There are many beliefs out there about origin of families, whether you chose your family in this lifetime, or are placed in a specific family by chance. This article is not to tell you what your own beliefs are, rather, it is my intention that you look at your own life and determine how transitions in your relationships have allowed you to grow.
Additionally, I also believe that it is easy to go through life and stay stuck on the labels that are created in relationships. The labels we tend to give ourselves are vast. Want to name a few: I am a daughter/son, sister/brother, mother/father, wife/husband, employee, business owner, student…the list goes on and on. Those are simply labels that you give yourself during the transitions of your life. Are they who you are? Do they change from time to time? If that is the case, then they cannot be who you are, correct? So, if we allow ourselves to look beyond the labels and have compassion for ourselves while going through transitions, we can choose to learn about ourselves at a very deep level and grow.
As such, I’ll give you a personal example to allow you to see how labels affected my own life.
Before I became a mother, I was a very successful employee (see a couple labels for you). I had graduated college, had a great career where I moved up the ranks into being a manager at a very successful company. The employee/manager Stefanie was confident and assertive and I worked hard to grow within my company.
However, I always longed to be a mother since I was a little girl myself. The time came that my two labels collided and what worked for one did not work for the other. I gave birth to a beautiful son, who was extremely calm and absolutely perfect. He was everything I thought I desired in a child. But I was sad inside; I struggled to find my strengths as this newly found role of being a mother. The tools that I had used in my career did not work in this new role, so emotions of failure and inadequacy set in as I navigated this new transition in my life. Yes, from the outside, I looked like I had it all together, but I was dying inside. I didn’t feel I had anyone to talk to and so I just kept it all to myself.
Therefore, you can see that I held on to my labels and I allowed them to define me. It was a necessary lesson for me to learn as I am now able to share the transition into motherhood. I remind mothers that becoming a mother is a re-birthing process for you too. Journaling and releasing the emotions of inadequacy is so important to allow yourself to let go of who you thought you were pre-kids. Have you considered your transition into parenthood one of ease or one of learning?
Beliefs
Next, let’s explore belief transitions. This may or may not be a touchy subject for you, but one that deserves to be discussed. I read a quote recently that confirmed why this topic is so important.
Just sit there right now.
Don’t do a thing.
For your separation from God, from Love,
Is the hardest work
In this world.
~Hafiz
Faith transitions, by far, may be the loneliest or freeing transitions that you may experience. Your whole foundation may have been destroyed. All that you thought you are has been jeopardized and it can be a very scary time. For me, I started seeing discrepancies of teachings of love and acts that contradicted these teachings in the religion that I grew up in. The questions went unanswered so I personally went on my own quest to find truths.
Furthermore, leaving a religion can bring up so much anger, and rightfully so. How are you using that anger to move your forward in love? I believe that anger is a powerful emotion that can inspire change or create destruction. We are all at choice on how we use this beautiful emotion. History books show us both examples. Television reminds us everyday those that are choosing to destroy with it. Are you willing to look at it from a different perspective?
If you are experiencing a faith transition, I invite you to dive into your own experience and choose to see that this transition is one that can bring forth beautiful change. Yes, feel all the emotions, don’t continue to suppress like you may have done in the past. Feel into it and know that you have the choice in how you wish to move forward. If you would like assistance, please feel free to grab my free checklist, which gives you permission to LIVE after religion and discover your own truths.
Money
Finally, let’s explore transitions with money. Yes, this is a very broad topic and one that will take many more posts to dive into. For the sake of this article, let’s explore how transitions through different jobs can allow you to learn more about yourselves.
For instance, have you taken the opportunity to look through your history of jobs to understand how you got to where you are today? Is there one particular job that provided so much clarity about your morals or what you were willing to put up with? Or was there one that you loved so much, that you woke up every single morning excited to take on the day? How about the one that ended without your say, but opened up the door to another possibility that you didn’t even know existed?
I remember a time where I chose to “go back” to a job. This idea ate me up inside, yet I 100% new that it was the right path for me. I had recently left an opportunity with a start-up company that did not resonate with my core beliefs. I had “tried” to get my business going again supporting postpartum moms, but I was fearful of money coming in. This fear stopped my creative flow and stopped the financial flow as well.
During a meditation, it was clear to me that I got to step into corporate world again. Also, during this meditation, it was clear to me that this was not a step backward, but a step I was choosing. One that would allow me to rest for some time and fully connect with myself, which then led me to my current business of exploring transitions and supporting those that are ready to embrace their change with love, specifically those stepping away from religion and into their own truths. This transition was exactly what I deserved for myself. Shifting the language around choosing this transition opened up my heart to explore the message that I am sharing now!
In conclusion, I hope this article allowed you to think twice about the transitions in your life. You have a choice on how you can view your own transitions. Some transitions may take time to see the beauty in why you’re experiencing them. But if you choose to embrace them with love, you will always see that there is something for you to learn.