Harnessing the power of our emotions….
As we navigate the roller coaster of living through a pandemic, I am present to the impact of transition in our lives. I find it quite ironic, that so much of what I do in the world is focussed upon helping others to transition that I rarely stop to consider the impact of transition in my own life.
What does it mean to transition? According to the dictionary transition is …”movement, passage, or change from one position, state, stage, subject, concept, etc., to another; change…”
When I reflect upon this definition I am reminded of the power of these words and however simple they may seem the devil is in the detail as we endeavour to navigate transitions in our own lives.
For me life experiences, have enabled me to develop a transition toolkit which has facilitated my capacity to navigate and rise from life’s curved balls, when they arise. We all have our own personal curved balls, those moments that change the trajectory of our lives and take us to places and emotions we never knew existed until they are presented to us. Often our curved ball moments arrive when we least expect them, a global pandemic, the death of a loved one, having your heart broken, leaving school, starting, losing or leaving a job, getting married, the birth of a child, navigating divorce, an unexpected illness, children leaving home, remarrying, retiring, the list goes on, in essence our lives are filled with transitions
Some transitions evoke what we perceive as negative emotions like fear, anxiety and uncertainty and some flood us with positive emotions like joy, anticipation and excitement. What’s important to understand with transitions is the first step in navigating transition is reckoning with the emotions that come with change. To recognise that our emotions provide valuable data that fuel or hinder transition and our capacity to reckon with our emotions is the critical first step in navigating life’s transitions.
Every day presents new transitions and every day we get to choose how we navigate these moments, yet sometimes there are transitions that bring us to our knees where we feel it’s impossible to move forward or we find ourselves stuck in a sea of our emotions. Personally, I have found it is these transitions that transform us. For it is in the “getting unstuck’ or reckoning that our greatest learnings arise and we are transformed by the experience to discover insights and strengths we never knew we had.
Like the hero in the stories of our ancestors, we need to rise to be the hero in our own story. The challenge comes as we navigate the stories of who we are, stories of not being enough, stories of unworthiness, stories of perfectionism. Who would you be without the story? For as we transition, we need to walk into and own our stories so we can be the authors of a new story.
No matter where we are in life, our experiences shape who we are, yet they do not define us. For at any moment, we can choose to move forward, make a shift or try something new and write a new ending to our story.
For as we know in the world of physics a slight change in a pattern, can change the trajectory and impact way beyond anything we might imagine.
Opening ourselves up to the power of emotions and how they fuel or hinder transitions is a critical step in navigating transitions. Its only when we rumble with our emotions and walk into our stories and own them that we have the power and insights to create and transform into something new.
Author: Angela Giacoumis, Emotous CEO | Published: Friday 2nd September 2022
