Transitions

At this time of year and particularly in the wake of our recent election, we are in the midst of a transition, though to what is the subject of not a little hand wringing. While the gravity of this transition is undeniable, transitions in general are not our sweet spot as human beings. Excepting those who view transitions as a time of opportunity, most of us regard change with wary eyes, even when retrospect teaches us that it is not always for the worst.

The only thing many of us dread more than change is stasis. Neither do we wish for a life of boring predictability but something in between. Change, we believe, is something thrust upon us not a choice we are presented with every day that we draw a breath. It's the old joke about the Zen hot dog seller. I handed him a $20 and asked him to make me one with everything. He handed me the dog and nothing else. When I asked him for some money back, he replied, change must come from within.

Ok, not ha ha funny but the kernel of truth nevertheless. Change is a constant, but when we see it exclusively as a product of external forces acting upon us it is not only a falsehood, but a dangerous one at that. That perspective is a product of tooth fairy thinking, the desire for a perpetual Christmas that will bring about a season of wonderful surprises and richly deserved presents. This fantasy is no more true than is Charles Schulz's Pig Pen. We do not walk around with a cloud of dark omens circling our head nor are we likely to be visited with an endless stream of good fortune.

Unquestionably things happen to us beyond our immediate control. Sometimes for the better in the long run, sometimes not. Instead of focusing our energies trying to prevent change from happening we should be thinking about our agency in bringing it about. A victim mentality is just the flip side of belief in perpetual blessing. But more often than not it is we who brought about this state of affairs. I am no better than most --I view the future with uncertainty, hoping for the best but old enough to know that whatever is served up in the moment is rarely permanent. Good or bad may be the categories we assign to events in our lives but we do have a choice about how best to deal with change in our lives.

We can begin with acceptance. Change has come and it is not within our power to alter that in most cases. Even if that change is something we must accept we are not powerless to make the best of it, to look for the blessings and opportunities that hide within and behind the face of every transition. Whether we believe we are moving toward or away from adversity, forward or backward in our pursuit of contentment is surely within us. The only thing we can be sure of is that nothing stays the same for too long. The Universe is not fickle, it has not singled us out for reward or punishment, those are the products of human behaviors, our own included. The Universe simply is, it's up to us how we will receive it.

Barack Obama said that "we are the ones we've been waiting for." The truth of that observation is that every day we draw a breath we are ready to be made anew. Change is not about threat or promise but about becoming. Give yourself a gift this Christmas, become the change you hope for.