22 Aug How to Handle Life Transitions and Make Them Suck a Little Less
I don’t know about you, but personally I find life transitions to be typically pretty stressful. While often these transitions have brought great happiness and excitement about the “next step” (i.e. moving in with a significant other, the birth of a child, or a move to somewhere new), let’s be honest – life changes can be hard AF.
Life transitions often come with unknown and uncharted territory – meaning there’s going to be things you can’t plan for and will need to navigate as you go. The inability to plan for everything can often bring on anxiety and fear for many.
Here are some tips on how to make life transitions suck a little less:
1. Plan
Plan for whatever you can and acknowledge that there is no way to plan for everything. If you’re having a baby, make sure to have the necessary items on-hand for when the baby arrives. There will undoubtedly be an item that you forgot or that you didn’t know your baby needed. No sweat, that’s what Amazon Prime is for! Be open and willing to learn as you go.
2. Distress Tolerance
Find things that relax you and can help lower your stress level. The gym, a massage, dinner with friends – whatever works for you. Make sure you have outlets or activities than can help you remember to breathe.
3. It’s Only Temporary
Remind yourself that this feeling is only temporary. While life transitions are not necessarily short-term, often the emotions accompanied with them are. With transition comes adjustment. Sometimes that adjustment can take some time and sometimes it may be quicker. Either way, that transition eventually becomes the new normal, and often that ‘transitional’ emotion is replaced with new emotions and feelings.
4. Radical Acceptance
If you can’t change the situation, you can change how you feel about it. Find positives in the situation, even if they are small. Acknowledge that you don’t have to like this change, even though it still may have to happen.
5. Reframe Your Thoughts
Reframe how you think or talk about this transition. Change the statement from “I have to” to “I get to.” It’s amazing what changing one word can do for your mindset.
6. Be Your Biggest Cheerleader!
Think about your past life transitions and remind yourself that you got through those, and you can make it through this one too!
We all experience life transitions at different points in our lives; some easier, some harder, some positive, and others less so. Transitions are all about how we cope and manage our own fears, anxieties, and excitement. If we can focus on ourselves and positive coping mechanisms, rather than the event and it feeling bigger than us, it will help us navigate this life transition more smoothly.
Authored by: Tracey Weiss