“It’s getting colder now.” It is. It’s October! And the first -ber month has just passed.
This quarter of the year, there is a change in temperature. What do you do when it’s getting colder? What do you do when there is a transition that is to happen? What do you do when there has to be a shift in your season?
Phases of transition and stages of shift come to our years, months, weeks, days and hours. As in every moment, there is movement. Shift. Transition.
To students, transitions happen after taking an exam, after completing a term paper, or after graduating. To working professionals, transitions transpire after closing a project, after receiving the year-end evaluation, or after getting promoted.
To farmers, shifts come after the plowing season, planting season, and harvesting season. To entrepreneurs, shifts move after closing a deal, after finishing a set of deliverables, or after reviewing the financial statements for the year.
To singles, shifts happen when you meet someone, when you enter a relationship, and when you get married. To married people, shifts come when they get pregnant, when they have their first baby, and when the next baby is born.
To everyone, shifts and transitions happen in every step, wink, and breath.
Yes, shifts arise in every move, in every moment, in large and little things.
The question now: What should you during these moments of shifts and transitions?
What do you think?
The simple answer: Make the most out of it.
But how is that? The key is in your response.
If you are feeling cold, what should your response be? You are to make yourself warm. Put on a jacket. Wear a sweater. Use a scarf.
To campers, they may have to move closer to the campfire. To those at home, they may have to move closer to the fireplace. If there’s no fireplace, they stay on their bed with multiple layers of blanket (when they sleep).
To you, what is your response?
Defining the response in moments of shifts and transitions is very important because they demand a change in what we used to be and used to do. At times, we think that these times of shifts are difficult. It may be true at certain points but it can also be that it is not necessarily difficult; it’s just that there is something different. As a wise man once said, “It’s not difficult. It’s just different.”
In this sense, it is essential to be guided and to respond appropriately and hang on. Because when we are able go through and get passed the transition stage, even though it’s difficult, we will come to happier stage and it may seem like the usual and thus would also be easier.
A shift in life demands for a shift in attitude and behavior. There will also be a change in priorities. There will be a shift in how your set and act on your responsibilities.
At first it may be frightening or scary. It may seem difficult and overwhelming. But the response is not to step back or withdraw. The response is not to run away or go back to what it used to be.
The right response is to respond appropriately. To face the shift and make that shift in thinking and action. It may be difficult but we have to be reminded that we can always put on the jacket of courage and the scarf of wisdom. Of discernment.
The right response is to respond appropriately. To face the cold of every shift is also to stay near the campfire or the fireplace. Our campfires are our sources of inspiration and learning. Our fireplaces are our sources of support and cheer. These campfires and fireplaces may be our family, our friends, our communities, our church. These campfires and fireplaces maybe our organizations like Toastmasters, support groups, and other social circles.
The problem with some is that instead of putting on that jacket of courage and scarf of discernment, they put it away. Instead of moving closer to the campfire or fireplace, they move away from it. As a result, they miss out the gift of the shift. They miss out on the opportunity to live larger!
But as we draw closer to another wonderful time of the year and experience a shift in the temperature and a shift in our seasons, let us be reminded that we have to respond appropriately even to some discomfort it may bring. To do so is to put on that jacket of courage, wear the scarf of discernment, and stay beside the campfires and fireplaces of inspiration, learning, support and cheer. This way we will make the most out of the shift. Of the season.
All the best to you as you embrace the cool breeze of -ber!
(Chris Dao-anis aims to empower his fellow young minds with practical instruction and inspiration in the fields of communication and personal leadership. He is an author, trainer and speaker. For talks, seminars and speech coaching, email him at chrisdaoanis@gmail.com. His latest book ‘Living Large in the Little Things’ is available at Mt. Cloud Bookshop, Casa Vallejo, Upper Session Road and at Psalms Bookstore (Sunshine Supermart) in Baguio City. Other options are available at www.chrispoweracademy.com/livinglarge.)
