Transitions

Transitions

By John W. Vander Velden

 

In each person’s life there are those moments when we face changes.  For though we might desire constants, life moves onward in a continual state of flux, and we face new things daily.  But there are those moments in our lives when something dramatic comes to our “timeline”.  Looking backward we see these times clearly -- our graduation -- our marriage -- the birth of our first child -- the list grows with the year count.  Those occasions share more than memories, those times of our evolving life are more than “just” change.  For though we have approached each with different levels of preparedness, we have watched the events as they approached.  We have taken time, time to consider the change, what it means, and what we think will be the result.  Each of us has faced these things, these transitions of our lives.  Moving from High School perhaps to work or college.  The change of living alone to sharing our life with another.  The fear of having a brand new person under our constant care.  But these special type of changes, these transitions, do not exist only in our past.  As we move forward in our lives, changes come, some we choose, others are thrust upon us.  For the one thing that remains constant about life is its continuous change.  Each of us will face, perhaps many times, a moment when we must choose the direction that is best for us or those we love.  At times the change we choose is dramatic -- a transition -- from what we know, into something we think is better.   We see these things coming, and we face these changes with intense seriousness.  But no matter how much we prepare – no matter how much we have “ground our thoughts” to what we anticipate – yet it becomes a matter of faith and trust as we leap from the life we know toward the new life that awaits.

(324 Words)