Ch,Ch,Ch,Changes!
For every person this week that is "changing" and going through a transition, here is another excerpt from my latest book which will hopefully be out later this summer called TRANSITIONS...
Excerpt Chapter 3...
Change…whether we are impacted by change that we cause or change that is forced upon us, we must learn how to navigate the transition and get ourselves to a place of health and a place of wholeness. You cannot win if you do not begin. See that word in the middle of “change”: between the C and the E… HANG. Don’t let change hang you up!
The advice that most people give us when we are going through transitions is simple…they say, “you need to move on”. Well duh! I could have paid cash for a new home if I had a dollar for every time someone gave me that counsel. I already know that…but can’t you see, I’m in transition! I’m not stupid! The struggle is that we have to figure out how we are to do that. The secret may lie in something I already pointed out…how we leave one position/relationship/job will determine how we enter the next.
In other words, we have to not only tie up loose ends in what we are leaving, we need to package them up and ship them out to that place that memories go. If the memories are good ones, we may store them close to home so we can journey back in our mind from time to time. If the memories are bad ones, maybe that sea where Jesus casts all of our sins, called the Sea of Forgetfulness is the best spot. Remember, yesterday ended last night! I know that the reason that you are reading this book is because you do want to “move on” or at the least, “move through” this hallway of transition. I call it a hallway because for me, that is what it feels like. I already left one doorway and now it has closed behind me. But the new door has not yet opened up so here I am, in what we may call “limbo”, waiting for some indicator as to where to go next. It’s as uncomfortable as being in the lobby of a busy hotel with a tuxedo on because you are in a wedding. Everyone is looking at you! Everyone goes past you wondering why you are standing there because you do not look like you belong there. You see,you aren’t dressed for where you are, you are dressed for where you are going! You have been outfitted for what is coming up and yes, you don’t fit where you are. But that’s OK…someone who has watched you enter the hall knows where you are going. Remember God is in control. Traffic moves through the hallway but nobody just sits there. That is why this transition time seems so uncomfortable. Everyone else is on their way to someone or someplace but we don’t have that information yet.
Imagine being in a beautiful hotel and having a five star suite and being locked out of your room because you misplaced your key. Would you just sit there in the hallway and cry about the fact that your key is missing or would you take the initiative and go get another key?
It is evident to me that you are not a hallway crier. You are not going to sit in the hall with last nights room service trays and complain. You will go and get another key…a key that will get you into your room. Transition isn’t easy but all of us are in one, have just crossed one or are facing one. So finding our personal key is what we need. Your key may be different than mine. Your doorway of opportunity is for YOU. Sometimes the hallway isn’t so miserable. That is, if you feel like the Lord is with you there!
Have an incredible Wednesday!
Excerpt Chapter 3...
Change…whether we are impacted by change that we cause or change that is forced upon us, we must learn how to navigate the transition and get ourselves to a place of health and a place of wholeness. You cannot win if you do not begin. See that word in the middle of “change”: between the C and the E… HANG. Don’t let change hang you up!
The advice that most people give us when we are going through transitions is simple…they say, “you need to move on”. Well duh! I could have paid cash for a new home if I had a dollar for every time someone gave me that counsel. I already know that…but can’t you see, I’m in transition! I’m not stupid! The struggle is that we have to figure out how we are to do that. The secret may lie in something I already pointed out…how we leave one position/relationship/job will determine how we enter the next.
In other words, we have to not only tie up loose ends in what we are leaving, we need to package them up and ship them out to that place that memories go. If the memories are good ones, we may store them close to home so we can journey back in our mind from time to time. If the memories are bad ones, maybe that sea where Jesus casts all of our sins, called the Sea of Forgetfulness is the best spot. Remember, yesterday ended last night! I know that the reason that you are reading this book is because you do want to “move on” or at the least, “move through” this hallway of transition. I call it a hallway because for me, that is what it feels like. I already left one doorway and now it has closed behind me. But the new door has not yet opened up so here I am, in what we may call “limbo”, waiting for some indicator as to where to go next. It’s as uncomfortable as being in the lobby of a busy hotel with a tuxedo on because you are in a wedding. Everyone is looking at you! Everyone goes past you wondering why you are standing there because you do not look like you belong there. You see,you aren’t dressed for where you are, you are dressed for where you are going! You have been outfitted for what is coming up and yes, you don’t fit where you are. But that’s OK…someone who has watched you enter the hall knows where you are going. Remember God is in control. Traffic moves through the hallway but nobody just sits there. That is why this transition time seems so uncomfortable. Everyone else is on their way to someone or someplace but we don’t have that information yet.
Imagine being in a beautiful hotel and having a five star suite and being locked out of your room because you misplaced your key. Would you just sit there in the hallway and cry about the fact that your key is missing or would you take the initiative and go get another key?
It is evident to me that you are not a hallway crier. You are not going to sit in the hall with last nights room service trays and complain. You will go and get another key…a key that will get you into your room. Transition isn’t easy but all of us are in one, have just crossed one or are facing one. So finding our personal key is what we need. Your key may be different than mine. Your doorway of opportunity is for YOU. Sometimes the hallway isn’t so miserable. That is, if you feel like the Lord is with you there!
Have an incredible Wednesday!
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