Unexpected Life Transitions: 5 Tips to make it easier

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Coping with some of life transitions can take your breath away. But not before your stomach does a bellyflop, your heart begins to melt and you cry yourself to sleep. There are many ways our lives cycle; our children come into the world, our children leave the nest, the loss of a loved one, sudden financial change, a new job, retirement, downsizing, marriage, moving, and moving on.
A new direction can bring about a range of emotions that can be difficult to deal with, including the ones you planned for. That’s because “new” can create uncertainty and challenge our sensibilities. 

Lift Transitions: 5 Tips to make it easier

Change is inevitable.  A life transition happens, arriving on our doorstep, whether or not we’re ready to shift in that new direction. So, is it possible to experience a full life, though different in its routine, that can still savour joy and fulfilment? Many life transitions create opportunities to reflect and learn.

Here are ways to help move you through a difficult time, a time unlike anything else you’ve experienced before. How we manifest change will make a difference in how we honor ourselves with the life we want to have. 

Life Transitions: 5 Tips to make it easier

  1. Do as much as you can ahead of time and prepare. This isn’t always possible but when you’re able to plan for a major transition and get things in order, it’s one of the best ways to work through the kinks and chaos. For instance, the stress from moving can be all-consuming, especially if you’re moving to an area that’s less familiar than the one where you’ve lived your entire life. Visit your new neighborhood so you can become acquainted with the culture of the town. It’s a start.
  2. Talk it out. For some, this isn’t easy to do. However, research shows that it can help by leaps and bounds. By putting your feelings into words and just being able to talk, as someone else listens, is calming. In this way, you’re normalizing the feelings you have about the changes in your life.
  3. Write it out. Journaling is powerfully cathartic.  Committing your experiences to paper is a healthy way of expressing them, rather than holding them in. When journaling, you’re able to process your emotions and create a new mindset so that you can begin to manage them. Understand how a life transition can be a positive part of your life.
  4. Take care of yourself in small ways.  Find the support you need with friends and family, people who know and understand you from the inside out and care. Keep your circle positive and stay away from negative influences that will bring your energy down. Do whatever you need to do, that will make you feel good, even if it’s curling up and reading pop culture.
  5. Be kind to yourself. Self-care during a life transition is very important to make changes successfully. Don’t underestimate the struggle. It’s real and so are you. Tell yourself that you’re doing the best you can. This is a good time to be your own best friend.
Life transitions; 5 ways to make easier
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Life transition is a process. Think of it as a train ride with many stops and resting-places along the way. At every station, new passengers, each with their own mission, will board the train, heading to their own destination. The ride may be bumpy. It may come to a halt for a while, even a layover. You may sit with someone for a time and learn something you didn’t know before. Finally, you’ll arrive at your stop with a clearer vision, for all that you’ve seen and learned on this journey. Most certainly, it won’t be the end of the line. Take the time to embrace life transitions and enjoy the ride.

What items are you holding on to? 

About Ronnie

Life transitions; 5 ways to make easier

Notes from DownshiftingPRO

In 2021, I have begun to pivot content features on the blog, I have chosen to highlight organizing content. After taking a poll, many of my readers and followers wanted more content with a focus on downsizing, organizing and conquering the clutter. In doing so, I have turned to professional organizers in Canada and the US to create guest posts for my readers. I admire their work and hope you will stop by their website for a fuller perspective on what they do best – keep people organized. I hope you enjoy the series.

Life transitions; 5 ways to make easier

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Margarita Ibbott is a travel and lifestyle blogger. She blogs about travel in Canada, the United States and Europe giving practical advice through restaurant, hotel and attraction reviews. She writes for DownshiftingPRO.com and other online media outlets.

8 thoughts on “Unexpected Life Transitions: 5 Tips to make it easier”

  1. These are simple, yet powerful tips. Aren’t those the best kind? It can be so difficult to think clearly when in the heat of a stressful situation so I agree that preparation (as much as possible) is key. I also love the inclusion of communication, both with yourself through journaling, and talking with someone you trust. Both forms bring much needed clarity and healing in a life transition or other stress-filled phase of life. I always enjoy Ronni’s posts. Thank you for sharing!!!!

  2. Stellar advice, especially the parts about talking and writing. The scary part about a transition is that it feels like change (because it is), and change can be scary. But the more you speak and talk about it, the more the idea of the transition becomes a part of your life, and the more you can take those small actions that give you a sense of control. In turn, before long, the transition is something you’ve been living with, in your head, and the changes are no longer so scary. (It’s like practicing saying your upcoming age for the months before your birthday; by the time you turn the new age, it feels like old hat!) Your approaches will make it a lot less stressful.

    • It’s true, talking about the changes that are about to come normalize the event. When I think back on how I raised my children, I always tried to prepare them for a change with encouragement and enthusiasm. Thanks for dropping by and contributing to the conversation.

  3. Most people don’t like change and I live with two of them, my husband and son. I try to prepare them for any planned changes, but they are still hard. Major life changes are especially hard, planned or unplanned. I’m working on getting my husband to start downsizing. Surprisingly he’s been pretty on board so far, but we haven’t gotten to any of his collections yet.

    • Oh… collections, those are always a tough one. I know I am trying really hard to downsize and love when I can get a shelf cleared with NOTHING else to put on it. Baby steps… baby steps… Thanks for dropping by!

  4. We are having a big life transition here as my daughter and her husband have moved in with us. It will be temporary, probably for 3-6 months. I’m delighted to have them, but it is a big adjustment. Just moving their stuff into our house took some mindful planning for sure. Talking it out, as you suggest, really helped.

    • Seana, I cannot tell you how kind you are. If your children need you now, bless you for helping them out. My parents also took us in when we moved here from another province. I was 7 months pregnant, a toddler at my feet and a husband starting a new position. All at her house because my sister had started treatment for Leukemia (we were unsure whether we were going to move into her home to help parent her 4 young children). I could not have gone through that period without my parents’ help. We were there for about 9 months and are grateful to this day. All is well with my sister but it was a chaotic time.

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