People in the messy middle of transition often describe feeling like they are trying to see through fog or swim through mud. Yuck. No wonder learning to love liminality feels like a tall order!
Two reminders I find helpful at this stage:
- Navigating a time of transition is not a treasure hunt where you are trying to find a right answer or path that is hidden from view. You are creating your future, not finding it.
- There are lots of possible futures that could suit you well — not just one.
How do you feel about having lots of possibilities in front of you?
Too much choice can feel paralyzing, but it can also be exciting.
Two more reminders, this time to help shift the feeling from the former to the latter:
- You are entertaining various possibilities, which feels like a lot. But in real life, you won’t have to navigate all of the many scenarios you have tumbling around in your head right now. You’ll live one at a time. (I think of this like having a baby: ahead of time, new parents are worried about any and all possible birth scenarios. When the baby is born, you’re dealing with just one scenario. It might be a hard one, but it’s only one.)
- You don’t have to “get it right” right away — you can run experiments to lower the stakes and try options on for size.
Swimming through mud or being lost in fog feels heavy and hard. May these reminders help trade lightness for some of that heaviness!
