Transitions

Now Departing…

For me, there are two distinct types of experiences when it comes to changing planes. The first type is the all-too-common “tight connection.” Landing late and worrying about getting off the plane and asking yourself why this is the one trip you ended up in the back row and the plane landed at the very end of the longest terminal in the world. Finally getting off the plane and finding that your app says your next flight is departing from gate G17 and the sign in the airport says it is departing from F2. Racing to get to your gate and thankfully this is not an international transfer, or you are completely screwed. Showing up at the gate (it was G15!) with sweat dripping and heavy breathing and the strap from your bag digging into your shoulder like an anaconda, asking the first person in uniform you see (sorry, Father, wrong uniform) the second person in uniform you see if the flight is boarding or closed or departed or already landed elsewhere. And being met with the quizzical look and the “oh, we haven’t started boarding yet, please take a seat” to which you just collapse into a puddle of your own sweat and anxiety, adding to the ever-swirling pattern of others who have had their soul dissolved into that airport carpet.

The second type of experience is “the wait.” The long long wait when there are hours between flights, but not enough hours to leave the airport. The wait when instead of being at an airport like Singapore or Seoul, where you can get a message or visit a waterfall or learn how to play tennis or have a catered meal in an adobe hut served by genetically modified intelligent sheep, you are at an airport that celebrates the recent opening of a new TGI Fridays. The long wait where you want to read a 600-page book but your headache prevents that and instead you become one of the Lost Tribe of Airports, wandering from gate to gate searching for something to do. The long wait where you have read the ingredients of the Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzels six times and still haven’t found chocolate or peanuts listed. The wait that finally ends when you get on the plane, and it feels like your soul will never catch up with you.

These experiences are both examples of transitions — and I believe that transitions are one of the most overlooked parts of a well-lived life.

Now Arriving…

When we plan, we tend to plan in a nice linear fashion. From here to there to there, one thing sequentially after another. One door closes and another opens. Everything lines up and there is often very little thought given to the times in-between and what happens then.

Yet, transitions happen all the time. Unfortunately, we treat them as something to move past instead of something to invest in and maximize. Transitions might be one of the secrets to helping get the most from our work and our lives. But that requires an investment in the transition itself, and not simply focusing on what happens next.

I recently went through a transition period at work and approached it with intentionality. The outcome surprised me a bit.