Transitions Are Never Easy

Transitions are never easy. Good or bad, they can bring about stress, anxiety, and uncertainty. How do we deal with this? These emotions can switch on a dime from being positive to negative depending on how we perceive the transition. ​

At this time in my life I am going through a lot of transitions, some good, some not so good but all a bit scary. Change is not easy for me, and I don’t think I’m alone, although I try hard 

to be flexible and to 'get used’ to change because I know it is part of life. To sit stagnant is not healthy and to force little change is impractical. 

My daughter just graduated from college and is moving across the country to start her very first career job. I’m thrilled, I’m proud, but I am anxious for her, and saddened that we will not be physically close to one another. This is life. This is how it goes. As a mother my job is/was to help my children grow into strong, healthy, and happy adults. I hope I have done that with this daughter of mine, and now it is time for me to let go. A transition. Not a bad transition but a change nonetheless. Scary.

My son graduated last week from grade school. A place he has been for 9 years. His school celebrated in grand style with retreats, parties, and even a class trip to Six Flags Magic Mountain. His graduation was formal with cap and gown and yes, I did get teary eyed a few times.;-) This too is part of the plan. It is a good transition, and again, I hope I have helped my son to move onto the next chapter of his young life. We are all excited but we are also nervous. 

Now… how does all of this affect our health? What does all of this stress and anxiety do to our bodies? I have written about this in the past, and I know the best thing we can do to reduce the negative burden these feeling play on our bodies is to change our perception. We can perceive anxiety as negative, where you feel nauseous and sick to your stomach, or we can perceive anxiety as positive, where you feel excited with increasing energy. It is up to us. Strengthen our mind with positive perceptions and our body will follow. Of course there are things physically we can do to reduce our stress and anxiety burden, but starting with a change in perception I feel is key.

Here are a few of the physical things I have been doing during this critical transition in my family life.

1. Making sure I get consistent sleep each night. I used to not think much about sleep. I’d stay up all night and then have to get to the hospital early the next morning. I would be tired but push through with yet another cup of coffee. Now I am a sleep snob! I make sure to get at least 7 hours of sleep every night, and during times of greater stress and anxiety (like now), I try to get even more.
2. Hydrate. As I have mentioned in the past. I’m a camel. I tend to not drink nearly enough fluid during a day and could go a long time without it. Sometimes I wonder if my thirst mechanism is out of whack (is that even possible? If so, someone please let me know!). But these days, I make sure to always have a bottle of water or herbal tea by my side. Hydrate the body, nourish the soul. In my mind I look at everything as fluid.
3. No processed or junk food! This is a big one. Not that I ever really eat processed junk food, but I am very aware that during times of stress and anxiety, the temptations can feel even bigger. ‘Oh I’m exhausted. I’m anxious. I miss my daughter. I’m just going to eat a whole pizza to drown my sorrows.’ Ha Ha…no way! This is not what I will do, nor what anyone should do. Try to think the opposite, 'My body is a temple. We are going through some changes. I will feed and nourish it to its utmost health, in order to have strength and fulfillment for these awesome transitions!’ Do you see how you can change your thinking around? Be firm with this one. Junk food is not the answer and will only spiral you down an ugly hole. Just don’t do it! Can you tell how strongly I feel about this one? ;-)
4. Exercise. But not the mind blowing strenuous exercise that wipes you out for hours. When I’m feeling anxious and stressed, sometimes I push it to release all that nervous energy, but more often I do calm meditative type exercise like a long walk in nature with my dog, or a beautiful hike into the hills. I also really like to use my rebounder and weights. Again, nothing ridiculously stressful but I really listen to my body and work out and move until it say’s ‘all done’! Really try to listen to your body’s signals.
5. Center yourself. For me the most important part of my day is the very early mornings when I’ve just woken up and the world is quiet. It is at this time I pray, meditate, and reflect on my life, my children, my family, my goals. It is when I pray for guidance, peace, direction, and calm. It is important to take time each day to center yourself, however that works for you, be it through prayer, meditation, yoga, church, incense, candles, rosaries, the Bible…whatever. Use your spiritual connection to ground and center yourself each day.

These are my tips. I hope you will find them helpful, and I hope my story is relatable. Let us all work on easing gracefully into the transitions of our lives, and remind ourselves that change is necessary and good. Let us shift our perceptions to the positive so that we can move gently through these changes and live a beautifully fulfilled, amazing life! It’s all good. ;-)