For some of us, change is hard. If you are someone who finds change hard, you may also struggle with life transitions. Does having a change in your life pattern affect you in ways that can seem hard to overcome? If so, you are not alone. Today we are going to talk about life transitions and steps that can help yourself through them. Are you currently facing a transition? How are you coping?
What is a Life Transition?
Simply said, a life transition is any change in your life that marks the beginning of something new. There are positive transitions as well as hard transitions. Some will bring about joy and happiness, while others can cause sadness and grief. Being able to recognize that your life is changing and processing how that change will impact you, is important. If left unprocessed, we can accumulate pain, anger, bitterness or resentment. All of these can affect our lives and relationships. Below are some examples of common life transitions. Are you currently experiencing one or more of these?
- Getting married
- Having a child
- Starting a new job
- Moving away to college
- Moving from your family home
- Death of a loved one
- Divorce
- Retirement
- Health changes
- Getting a promotion at work
If you find yourself in the middle of a life transition or have one coming up, please continue to read. Below we will talk about ways to prepare for a life transition as well as what to do when you feel like you can’t move beyond one.
How Can I Handle Life Transitions?
Recognizing that you are walking through a season of change is the first step. While some may have a tendency to put off thinking about change or how they feel about it, that does not help them grow emotionally or mentally. Keeping things inside and choosing to not talk about them, will not heal them. In fact, it can cause the opposite for you. Having pent up emotions can cause a wide span of health issues and can increase mental health issues. So, now that we have determined that it is best to try to process how you are feeling, suggestions for how to do so are needed. Below are a few steps that you can incorporate in trying to be intentional about processing your emotions during a life transition.
- Talk to someone you trust about what you are feeling
- Practice consistent sleep patterns
- Maintain healthy eating choices
- Be mindful of using alcohol or drugs to cope
- Journal your feelings
- Practice mindfulness and focusing on what is happening in this moment
- Acknowledge how you feel and the emotion that comes with it
- Keep a list of things you are grateful for and remind yourself of them
Being willing to try a step to help you through a transition is important. Change simply does not come if we can’t take steps toward change. If you have tried ways to help yourself through transitions, but seem to fall short of positive improvements, Upstate Restorative Counseling offers Life Transitions counseling. We have therapists who desire to help you establish goals and work with you to develop a plan forward. You are not alone. Reach out, we would love to talk to you.
