July 21, 2026- Transitions are an important part of our lives. They are those times in our lives that can be
exhilarating but can cause great emotional pain resulting in anxiety and depression. How we
deal with them has a lot to do with the level of satisfaction and happiness we will have in our
lives. Transitions would include death of someone we really care for, job changes by choice or
necessity, changing job requirements, divorce, marriage, parenting, buying and moving into a
home, falling in love, financial stress, incarceration, and moving to a new location. Some of
these transitions are by choice such as buying a house or taking a new job, but they can be
stressful transitions we need to learn to adapt. Situations like death of a loved one, being fired,
needing to move to a new location or a divorce are transitions that can be exceptionally difficult
and devastating to a person as they experience them. Regardless of whether the transition is
sought or thrown upon us, the following ways to deal with natural transitions that we all
encounter as we live our lives would include accepting the reality that transitions always occur in
our lives, recognize and accept they are occurring and adapt to them as fast as possible, have
realistic expectations of what to expect, develop a support system as needed, keep yourself in
good physical and mental health, recognize good decisions made now will lead to a better
outcome in the future of whatever transition you are experiencing, and never stop trying to move
forward in life as best as possible. An important thing to remember is transitions will always
occur in our life regardless of what plans we make to not have them occur. The death of a loved
one, being divorced or being fired from a job are things one cannot plan for appropriately and
can lead to great distress. Before these things occur, it is important persons think about how
they will react to such possible transitions, and even if they become overwhelmed, realize they
will survive. How well they survive will depend on their attitude and behaviors. Pretending they
will not occur and not planning for them will lead to greater devastation for the transitions we
have not sought and which can be so damaging psychologically. It also is true transitions we
desire can have some potential negative outcomes. Persons may be excited about taking a new
job, but when in it may question their capabilities and somehow may be focusing on what they
liked about their past job. A person who has always wanted to move to another city may enjoy
living there, but then can feel lonely or lost in the adapting to an unknown city loaded with
unknown people and activities going on that are the normal parts of a city. Something to
remember is that transitions are difficult under the best of circumstances and it is important to
accept this. Try to have a plan to deal with them as they occur. I have given you some
suggestions but trying to see most transitions as opportunities for resolution rather than
overwhelming problems is a good place to try to change your outlook on life transitions.