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Whenever a situation, circumstance, or environment changes, we find ourselves in a state of transition. Some transitions are easier than others. For example, a new college graduate may happily face a transition from a full-time student to that of a full-time employee because it takes virtually no time at all to comprehend that money now goes into your bank account rather than coming out of it.
Other transitions, such as becoming an empty nester when the (above) college graduate moves out, can be more difficult. It may initially feel exciting to think about doing less cleaning, cooking, and laundry but it can be challenging to adjust to the idea of not having to provide daily care for your child. Typically, most people would consider that the hardest transitions to handle are the ones that change everything, such as a job relocation or change in marital/relationship status. I might offer, however, that it is often time that makes a transition most challenging and, in some cases, nearly impossible to complete.
Consider a two-week vacation at home. You think that you will have so much time to do everything you want to do during this 14-day vacation such as read a book, finish painting the spare bedroom, plant some flowers, and, above all, relax. Right? Unfortunately, what we often miscalculate is the time it will take to transition from a stressed-out person who works into that of the relaxed individual who is on vacation…
Day 1 of your vacation, you wake up at 6 a.m. because you realized that you did not actually mail the proposal on your desk that needed mailing. Not to worry because you can throw on sweatpants and slip into your office before anyone knows, grab a cup of coffee on your way home, and enjoy it leisurely before starting your day of relaxing. You check your work emails that night because you don’t want to miss anything again and reassure yourself that you are only checking your emails so that you can sleep better. On day 2, you forgot that you scheduled your annual dermatologist check-up. The appointment is at 9 a.m. at an office an hour away. While you wait for your turn to be checked over, you answer a few work emails, promising yourself that you might as well since you have nothing else to do. On day 3 you sleep until 7 a.m. and only check work emails twice. On day 4, you sleep in because you took a little sleeping pill the night before. You jolt out of bed thinking you missed a work meeting and then remember you are on vacation. You check your work calendar just to make sure you haven’t really forgotten about any meetings. Days 5-7 complete your first full week of vacation, and you have a steady routine of only checking work emails during your lunch. By day 8, you are starting to feel rested and relaxed and don’t check your work email at all. By day 9, you feel guilty for not checking your emails. By day 10, you start to transition back into your daily work life by getting up early and checking emails three times a day. You also treat your intended vacation goals like a half accomplished to do list and begin tackling things ferociously. You spend days 11-13 reading your book, painting the spare room, and planting your flowers. By the time you are on day 14 of your at-home vacation, you are feeling neither rested nor quite relaxed! You begin to think that next year, perhaps, you should plan a trip somewhere far away so that you actually feel like you had a real vacation.
Acapulco! Acapulco!
Kathy Naumann, possessor of NATURALLY curly hair and the understanding that you can’t control everything!
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