Column: Dealing with lifes transitions, big and small
Published 12:00 am Monday, May 19, 2008
By Julie Seedorf, Something About Nothing
My daughter is a contributing editor to the Luther Seminary Concord, which is their seminary newspaper. Recently she wrote an article on transitions, specifically external and internal transitions. I experienced a transition in my life because I realized I learn so much from my adult children. They are really smart people.
I am also reading a book titled &8220;You Can Heal Your Life&8221; by Louise L. Hay. I don&8217;t know if I want to be healed and I don&8217;t know if I need to be healed but I thought it sounded like an interesting book. However, after reading my daughters article and reading a few chapters of the book, my fluffy brain actually got the fact that something in the universe was telling me that this is my month to think about transitions. One of Louise&8217;s sentences states &8220;Every moment of life is a new beginning point as we move from old to new.&8221;
My daughter wrote, when explaining the changing transitions of her life, &8220;These things did not happen spontaneously; they were the work of time, of many tiny moments building into the traits of a person in a continued state of transformation.&8221;
I love change. I hate change. I love the past. I hate the past. I am scared of the future. I am excited about the future. I never can make up my mind. Two written sources that I read within days of each other are telling me that every moment of my life is transition. Every moment of all our lives is change. Now I have to either love or hate the next moment because I have realized that it has great importance in my transition to my future.
If each moment of our life is a new beginning point then there is so much hope in our future. What moments have transitioned you into who you are today? Were they moments such as the first memory of your life or the first time you were able to tie your shoes? What about your first kiss or your first heartbreak? Don&8217;t forget the moment you got your first A or your first F.
There are moments of weddings and children being born. What about the first time we were hired for a job or the first time we were fired from a job? Do you remember the moment you were told for the first time that someone you loved had died? There are memorable moments that have transitioned our life. There are also the moments that are so fleeting we do not even remember they existed because they happened so fast and poof they were gone. But they were part of our transition.
We live in a cruel world today. &8220;Dancing with the Stars&8221; is absolutely one of my favorite shows. Recently I read the message boards about a particular dancer. This dancer is short and a little on the heavy side. I happen to love her. Go short people! However, many of the comments had nothing to do with her dancing but more to do with her weight. They were very cruel comments. What external transitions lead to internal transitions to form our characters to be so cruel to one another?
Recently there have been many acts of violence in our state. College women have been assaulted, people walking have been attacked and home invasions in the Cities with dire consequences have taken over the news. One man who had spent days in the hospital stated that he did not know what was happening to society and that something had to change.
The Internet and message boards have given people more of a voice. Many of these message boards are uplifting and helpful to people. Many more of these Web sites are filled with cruel and vicious statements. One statement fuels another. The work of time and tiny moments building the traits of a person helps these websites transform a person&8217;s life for the better or the worse.
Many tiny moments of transformation make us who we are. Who are you? I am blonde and fluffy. Sometimes I make sense and sometimes I don&8217;t, but since I am in transition, every moment I experience will be different tomorrow. How cool is that? We are never the same. We already knew that but we seem to forget.
We may think we do the same thing every day, but we don&8217;t, something is different. Every day is change. Maybe we won&8217;t hate change so much if we remember that fact. Every moment in our lives is different, and each day is different. We might not see the change because it is so small, but hold on to the fact that the transition is there. If you don&8217;t like your internal transition, remember the next moment is coming, and it can change who you are.
Wells resident Julie Seedorf&8217;s column appears every Monday.
E-mail her at somethingabout nothing@mchsi.com.