3 Ways to Handle a Transition Gracefully

Just this weekend I was talking to three friends all going through different transitions. One was starting a new job, one is looking for a new job, and another is moving across the country for a new job. They were three separate conversations, but all revolved around the same anxieties about transitions. I will be forwarding all three of them Maxie’s guest post!

3 Ways to Handle a Transition Gracefully

Guest post by Maxie McCoy

Whenever I’m reading something, regardless of how interesting the topic is or how good (or bad) the writer has done, the one thing I always pay attention to is how great the transitions from one idea to another are.

When the transition is good, like really good, you barely notice it. Which is what makes them so good. The author somehow ties one thing to another very different thing beautifully. It’s the makings of good writing, great moderators… and calm humans.

It’s so easy not to be calm when a transition is happening. I don’t know about you, but as the leaves and season start to change it’s as if everyone I know (including myself) is moving into new stages, projects, relationships, jobs, and cities. Change is everywhere.

And just like a well-written story, your own story will become even better by the way you handle these transitions. Do you spend your days freaking out constantly because things are changing… so much so that you lose the beauty of what’s going on? Or do you take one step at a time, knowing all transitions happen gradually and that you’re in good hands? The latter can feel harder but will help you enjoy the story of your life even more.

No matter what transition is happening for you right now, big or small, here’s a few things to consider so you gracefully usher yourself from A to B:

Acknowledge that you’re in one.
Often when we start to get frazzled and freaking out about the unknown awaiting (hi, major anxiety), it’s because we haven’t correctly identified what it is that’s going on. As soon as you realize oh, I’m in the midst of a transition, it becomes easier to take your feelings in stride and have more compassion for yourself.

Remember past transitions.
Go back to a time when you navigated a transition gracefully. Maybe changing schools or deciding on a different area of study or a new way of living… you handled that and came out alive and kickin’ and this time will be no different. Remembering those moments and how it all worked out is often enough to give you the confidence to do the same today.

Take it a day at a time.
There’s a reason transition and change are similar but not always interchangeable: transitions require change over the course of time. And when things are a changing, you have to take it one step or one day at a time. That’s all you can do. And in each day, do the best you can not to obsess or worry about anything other than what you can control right now.

As the things in your life evolve, remember that you’re evolving with them which is a beautiful thing. The next chapter of whatever it is that you’re experiencing will make you who you are. Keep showing up, keep taking it all in, and keep your chin up…this transition will work out, it always does.

For more pick-me-ups from Maxie, check out her weekly emails here.