Transitions

I have blogged here lately about how we cope with life's speed bumps.  I'll be the first to admit that I know as much about sports as Bush knows about world politics, but I do know that the team that usually wins is the team that is best prepared for whatever their opponents might surprise them with.  The entire idea of athletics is to roll with the punches and when knocked down, get up and fight harder.

I certainly do not mean to make light of tremendous sorrow, for I feel strongly about allowing ourselves time to grieve.  Rather, I am referring to facing the truth that we all will be hit by unexpected hurdles.

I was having a discussion with a friend at dinner the other night who told me he had just attended a conference on career transitioning.  The moderator got up on stage and simply said, "It's over."  He then instructed everyone to go off and write about what that meant.

When they returned, he explained that everything in our lives has a beginning and an end.  He used the example that when we are around eight years old, we look at our toys and don't want to lose them, and yet at the same time, we no longer have an interest in playing with them.  It's over.  Our relationships, homes, and things we are interested in, all come and go.  Our careers, he explained, are subject to the same beginning and end.  We are all creatures of habit, but we must recognize when "it's over."

I have contemplated the mourning process that we must allow for some endings, and the celebrations of others.  When my lymphoma is gone, I will celebrate that "it's over."  And yet I will look back on it as such an enlightening piece of my life.  Moving away from it will be a rewarding, but moving on will be a challenge.

My father taught me that we all have a gift in remembering good times, but can never fully relive the bad times.  Eventually we heal from the pain.  We all have sad days in our lives that we will never forget, but thank God we do not have to experience the severe pain we felt at the time.

Transitions are difficult.  But we all change and hopefully grow.  We eventually move on.  Move up.  And continue to climb the ladder of life.