Life and relationships are full of transitions

Life and relationships are full of transitions: 

Summer break into fall routines
Dating to getting engaged
Engagement to marriage 
Not pregnant to pregnant
Back to work after maternity leave 
Full house to empty nesting 
(to name just a few)

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It’s common to struggle during these times of transition. We resist the change. We want to hold onto summer, to our single life, to the kids before they leave for college… 

We even resist waking up in the morning, which only causes more suffering and discomfort. (What I learned is that if you don’t push snooze, it can be easier - even though it doesn’t seem like it would be!)

You might notice that you’re grinding gears with your spouse the night before the first day of school, as you’re planning your wedding, after you get home from your honeymoon, or after you’ve brought that tiny bundle of joy home from the hospital. It’s normal to struggle with these transitions. The opportunity available is to not resist them. 

Experiment with radical acceptance. 

Whether it’s school starting, or a new chapter beginning, or you realize you’re going to feel like garbage for the first 12 weeks of pregnancy, when we accept it, we don’t struggle as much. 

Say it out loud - “This is hard.” Speaking to what is, acknowledging it with your partner. 

Even in writing this newsletter, it wasn’t flowing out of me like it usually does. I was resisting what was, and it became more frustrating until I finally surrendered my acceptance. 

There was no perfect ending to come up with, no homework assignment to give, just the acknowledgment that transitions are hard, they are normal, and they can get a little bit easier if we stop resisting them. 

As we all go through this seasonal transition into fall in whatever unique ways we might experience it, I wish you ease, flow, acceptance, and maybe even a sense of humor to get you through.