“If every day is an awakening, you will never grow old. You will just keep growing.” – Gail Sheehy, New Passages

As the clock rushes from 2019 to 2020 – the start of a new decade – take full inventory, both the wins and losses. It’s rarely one or the other. Celebrate the wins and find the lessons in the loss. Our natural inclination is to put more weight on the loss than the gain. When we dare to awaken to the gifts in each day, we keep growing, embracing change and transitions that are the fabric of life.

According Managing Transitions author William Bridges, there are three phases to transition:

1. Ending – letting go of old ways and old identity;

2. The Neutral Zone – in between time with the old being gone and the new not fully arrived;

3. The New Beginning – coming out fully of transition into a new beginning with a new energy and purpose.

Many days feel like we’re stuck in the neutral zone, clinging to old ways and the past. Accepting and diving right in the middle of change can move us to new beginnings, new stories. Resistance delays the gift of new beginnings.