Transitions
“I ain’t what I ought to be, and I ain’t what I’m going to
be. But I ain’t what I was!”
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In the past few months, I’ve experienced further changes—some that shook me to the core. Change is an inevitable part of life, but it’s interesting how dealing with it doesn’t come naturally or easily. Ever think about that? How change is a natural part of life, yet it feels horribly unnatural?
Last year, Meredith read a book called Transitions and raved about it. With a twisted arm, I finally picked up the book and quite literally hated it…. until chapter five.
In Transitions,
the author argues that change and transition are distinct notions. For instance, moving to a new country,
getting married, or adopting a baby—all of these are examples of change. Transition, however, entails coping
with the feelings, new roles, changed identity, and fresh relationships.
Bridges (2004) explains that change “can take place in a moment” but transition
lingers because it includes “the old habits and behaviors and practices that
made you feel like yourself.”

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I like Bridges’ focus on endings. There’s a gut-wrenching honesty to it. And yet there’s also
hopefulness, that with endings comes the promise of a beginning. “We have it
backwards,” writes Bridges, “endings are the first, not the last, act of the play.”
Endings precede all new things.
Endings precede all new things.
“To make an end is to make a beginning.”
- T.S. Eliot
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