Tag Archives: change

Change vs. Transition

©IBKimage2011

I’ve been thinking a lot about the book TRANSITIONS  first written by William Bridges in his mid-forties and then a second edition when he turned 70. He doesn’t think he made the point clear enough in the first edition re: change/distinction.
“Change is your move to a new city or your shift to a new job. It is the birth of a baby,the death of your father, … switch to a new health plan … In other words change is situational.”
“Transition, on the other hand, is psychological … not the events … but … the inner
reorientation and self-definition that you have to go through in order to incorporate any of those changes into your life. Without a transition, a change is just a rearrangement of the furniture ”

Wow, there is a lot to think about here. As Americans we have a lot of rituals around events like Super Bowl Sunday, and buying something that will “change your life” but of course can’t because they/it doesn’t provide an entry into the journey of endings and new beginnings or death and rebirth. Getting all set for the change doesn’t prepare you for the transition.

Today’s image is in Zion National Park and reminds us of how the upheavals,the challenge from the wind and the light’s illumination are all a part of the transition process and can delight.
IBK

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