Transitions can be the worst.
You’re not at the beginning of something, or the end of something. You’re in between.
Transitions are kind of like a road trip with kids. Once they’ve worked their way through whatever you’ve brought to keep them interested as the miles go by, they start to get antsy. That is when they ask the dreaded question. You know the one I mean.
“Are we there yet???”
And I’m not even talking about big transitions like retiring from a long career, having your first baby, or selling the house you raised your children in and downsizing to a condo. In fact, in some ways, those are easier to manage because you expect them to be hard.
I’m talking about transition days. The day when for no reason you can pinpoint, you feel out of sorts, unfocused, and you just kinda want to go to bed and have it be tomorrow. Why tomorrow? Because at least it’s not today. Tomorrow is the destination, and more than once on a transition day we whine... or at least I do...
“Are we there yet?”
Like the day after you get home from a vacation. The day where you try and settle back in, get a handle on life, and sort the mail. And for no reason you can pinpoint, you feel out of sorts. It is easy to panic just a little bit, and start to wonder, why do I feel so antsy?
Are we there yet?
Or the day after a fabulous party that you’ve been planning for months. The next morning, everyone is gone, and the house just feels so...empty. Your focal point is gone, and there isn’t a new one in sight. And for no reason you can pinpoint, you feel completely unfocused. It’s easy to panic just a little bit, and start to wonder, why do I feel so antsy?
Are we there yet?
Or the day you move from one place to another on a vacation, which means that you have to figure out where each of you will put your suitcase, who gets what shelf in the bathroom, what side of the bed will you sleep on, and what will the first day in the new city will look like. And for no reason you can pinpoint, you just kinda want to go home and sleep in your own bed. It’s easy to panic a little bit, and start to wonder, why do I feel so antsy?
Are we there yet?
In case you haven’t guessed, I am writing this on a transition day. I’m in that in-between space, and trying to find my gracious, good company bearings, but so far, I haven’t been able to lay my hands on them, and I’m getting a little antsy.
Are we there yet?
Writing always seems to be a good way to calm the ants in my pants, and so I decided to write about what transition days feel like to me in case anyone else might relate. Also, the time it takes to write this is getting me a little further down the road to tomorrow.
