After a change in your life or work, you can use emotions to help with the transition that follows. Use DENIAL AND SHOCK to ease yourself into the grieving process after any loss. Whether your loss is personal or professional—the loss of a loved one through death or divorce or the loss of a job—you are facing a life-altering transition. You need time to make sense of what is happening. These emotions provide some initial numbness, giving you time to handle what you can. Both can be protective if used temporarily. However, you must let shock and denial fade and let deeper emotions emerge.
ANGER is another one of the emotions to help you transition. Although it can be very intense and overwhelming at times, it’s a normal feeling. It may mask fear, guilt, regret, remorse, vulnerability, etc. but it also helps us get through the day if managed properly. It is better for you than keeping your feeling bottled up or feeling nothing at all.
Use STRESS and FRUSTRATION as signs that you are in the bargaining stage of the grieving process. This is when “if only” or “what if” can become overwhelming. You are tempted to bargain with the Almighty for healing in exchange for devoting one’s life to being a better spouse, parent, etc.
SADNESS and AMBIVALENCE about your current reality come next. Use these emotions to help in the healing process instead of staying stuck in depression.
After that, you will be UNCOMFORTABLE because you’ve ended something important in your life. You may also feel CONFUSED, DISORIENTED, and DISCONNECTED until you establish a new path forward. At the same time, you may be IMPATIENT to get on with life.
Continue to use emotions to help find your new normal. SELF-DISCOVERY and CURIOSITY and being RECEPTIVE to creative ideas while you think about the future are key here.
You will eventually see light at the end of the tunnel. This fills you with hope and ANTICIPATION. You will have the CONFIDENCE and EXCITEMENT necessary to leave the past behind and move forward.
When you use emotions to help you in your transitions, you will come to a place of ACCEPTANCE and CONTENTMENT. That is the time to stop preparing and to embrace your new life stage or your new career, your new beginning. Enjoy the journey.
One added note: if you are not experiencing a life or work transition at this time, you can use emotions to help you recognize transitions, as described in this post, in the lives of those around you.