From Transition to Transformation
The shift from summer to fall is such a dynamic time. Settling into September, many of us face changes in routines from summer days just past. We watch as children return to school and daylight fades a little earlier each day; we find ourselves shifting focus away from summer adventures and adjusting schedules to a predictable daily pace. While it may be months yet before those short days of winter arrive, the season change marks a time of transition – when things are not what they were before and are not yet what they will be.
With season transitions, I often think about how shaping wellness follows much along the same path. Whether transitioning old habits into new ones or transitioning a mindset with a new focus, to practice daily wellness means letting go of the things that no longer serve us and experimenting with new choices to find the right fit. We transition from what was to create what can be. Through the process of transition, visions of wellness begin to come to life.
Yet, transitions are not endpoints in and of themselves.
Unlike navigating a season change, building wellness desired and envisioned requires more than just transitions. While developing “what was” to “what can be” through intentional transition is a first step, to shape our unique wellness also means addressing our own transformation. It is through transformation that we are ultimately able to internalize wellness and enact a new way of being. With transformation, we grow into who we wish to become.
The effect of focusing on transformation – as a critical companion to transition – cannot be underestimated. After all, how often do we make changes to behaviors for the purpose of improving our health only to resume old behaviors when the newness has passed? Or struggle to maintain a new routine when we experience unpredictable disruptions? Or fall into old thinking patterns, succumb to stress, or are distracted by other more pressing priorities? When the transformation part of building wellness is overlooked, it is unbelievably difficult to stay a wellness course. Without wellness internalized into our being, it is merely another task to accomplish.
So, how do we internalize wellness to move from transition to transformation?
First, we can reflect – not just on behaviors or actions that we would like to change but also on who we hope and wish to become…
How do I wish to think, feel, and act?
What are the experiences that I wish to create as well as have?
What are the joys and the learnings that have made me who I am?
What do I want more of in life and how will I know I have succeeded?
Then, we can connect – not just on the relationships we wish to establish but also on current relationships and the ways in which connection influences who we are…
How do I want to make others feel?
Who do I trust the most in my life?
What is something I wish others knew about me?
What does the world need that I have to bring?
Last, we can enact – not just in experimenting with new lifestyle habits but also in growing into the vision of who we will be…
What sparks my creativity? What is something I am willing to try?
What is on my bucket list? How can I make my list a reality?
What do I tend to put off out of fear? What are the ways I can face my fears?
What do I want more of in my life? How will I make it happen?
Opportunities exist each day for making choices about wellness, and for many of us this means focusing on transitioning from old behaviors to new. However, these transitions mark just the beginning to bringing wellness visions to life. As a complete process, we must also consider the internal work of transforming into who we wish to be. It is with transformation that we will truly live our wellness envisioned from the inside out.
What steps will you take towards your transformation today?
