In life, change is inevitable. People normally respond to a change in one of two ways – with open arms feeling nervous excitement or with lots of resistance and feeling fear because change takes us out of our comfort zone and away from what we are used to.
Summertime is coming to an end fairly soon. August is the month where the heat comes on strong just before the subtle cool down begins.
Kids go back to school. Vacations are wrapping up. And Mother Nature does her work to remind us of where we are through changes in temperature, climate, and moon cycles.
As a person who has worked in schools for the majority of my adulthood, life for me used to happen in semesters and when I left schools to work as a psychotherapist, life happens in seasons.
With each season come changes, both in our external world and our internal world regardless of whether or not, we are consciously aware of it. Often times life takes care of making change happen for us in the form of transition.
For various reasons, we either choose to make transitions or we get catapulted into making one to help in our evolution. We transition from being in a relationship to getting out of one, from working one job to transferring to another, from leaving one home into one that better meets our needs, from being full-time parents to empty nesters, from being students to employees, and from living in one city to moving to another.
Even when we don't understand why these transitions need to happen, the universe or God forces us to make this change for our betterment. In the midst of the transition, we may not feel that the change is what's best for us, but there is something inside that pushes us to keep moving forward and taking the steps necessary to complete the transition. The consistent choice we must make is to accept or resist.
For years, I have seen life in this way, so change is something that comes natural for me. Most of the time, I face change with ease because change is what I can expect. Life truly is like a river, full of transitions and changes that take twists and turns which are often unpredictable and vary between calm and chaos.
Life has taught me that nothing remains the same because there is no permanence to any one living thing. Trees, leaves, plants, flowers, grass all grow, die, and then grow back again. Streams, rivers, and oceans move and change direction with a perfect balance of smoothness and strength. People and animals are always aging and with this comes change in physical appearance along with mental, emotional, and (hopefully) spiritual growth.
Recently, I invited some friends to float the Clackamas River here in Oregon. What I was imagining to be a relaxing day of fun in the water with sun and tree gazing unexpectedly turned into being a crazy adventure of uncertainty, anticipation, worry, tons of fear, some panic, and above all connectedness and a lot of faith!
The low level of the river brought about moments of being stuck on rocks, the force of the rapids caused a few of us to fall over and scrape ourselves, the setting of the sun came too soon which brought on purple lips and shivering bodies, and we were faced with the frightening reality that we may not make the shore before the sky turned pitch black.
In the midst of what was happening, I kept reminding myself to trust God and Mother Nature. Each time that we were plunged into a moment of turbulence where someone fell over and hurt themselves, someone lost their float, or we couldn't see our end in sight around the next bend, I would take deep breaths and help in whatever way possible to reach safety again. I calmed myself by consciously connecting with the peace of the water's waves and the sky which had turned into a pinkish purple dusk.
I share this experience of the river float because what I learned from this memorable adventure will forever stick with me and seems pertinent to this topic of transitions.
The river teaches me that:
Change will happen.
We are never alone.
There is always someone to ask for help or someone you can lean on for support.
We are meant to live in connection with others.
People will step up when it is a matter of life or death.
Our comfort zone is temporary.
The experience we are in now is impermanent.
Just like waves, life's energy will push us down and we have to get back up to move forward.
The best way to survive is to go with the flow AND be aware of what we need to do when the change feels harder.
Let go and let the water (life's purpose for you) lead the way.
There is always a reason to be feel grateful for life and the beauty of nature that surrounds us.
River warriors
This in dedication to the 'Nailed It' river float team. Thank you for being warriors on this day of unexpected and scary transitions. Being on dry land has never felt better and I am so thankful that we all braved the changes that were forced upon us by the mighty river of life. Let's float on!