During my travels over the last two decades, I have enjoyed the opportunity to read the presentation of this newspaper column in cities around the country. None pleased me more than last Sunday when I viewed the fruits of my labor in the Columbus Dispatch. My visit to Columbus, Ohio occurred while visiting for the first time in the home of my daughter’s future in-laws. Viewing my daughter’s post-nuptial residence, touring the campus of The Ohio State University where my future son in- law is pursing graduate studies, and meeting my daughter’s new friends and family, all helped me with the transition that I am making as the “father of the bride.”
As I think about changes in my life, I reflect upon the importance of healthy transitions in every person’s life as change is a natural part of living, maturing, and self-actualizing. Healthy transitions are key elements in achieving good mental hygiene. Becoming “stuck in a rut” or stubbornly refusing to accept life’s transitions takes its toll on an individual’s outlook on the world. Recently, I talked to an older adult who is adjusting well to a new life in a retirement center. In her wise and inspiring dialogue with me she said “I am making this adjustment well because I see all of life as a series of adjustments.”
As I pass milestones in my own life, such as the birth of my grandchildren, the marriage of my youngest child, the loss of family and loved ones, and reaching the age in life when some individuals choose to retire, I consider the importance of change, transition and adjustment. Transitions in life may be times of great uncertainty but may also be times of opportunity and progress. Making the conscious connection between where you have been and where you are going invites optimism and a chance to “reframe” fear into possibility.
Next week will become yet another transition for me as my weekly column will take on a different format that will encourage my reading audience to interact more actively with me via questions. Readers wishing to visit archives of past and future columns can visit my website www.lakeshorecenter.net.
Author Gail Sheehy once said, “If we don’t change, we don’t grow. If we don’t grow, we aren’t really living.” Coping with transitions is truly a part of living a full life as we accept change and move toward what is to come.
Harold H. LeCrone, Jr., Ph.D Copyright © 2005
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I’m an experienced Clinical Practitioner, Administrator, Professional Writer, and Lecturer.
