From Transition to Transformation

On Janurary 26, 2009 I received a call from the Director of Employee Relations notifying me that my position was being eliminated effective immediately.  My life changed in a matter of moments.  I gathered my belongings and proceeded to my car.  As I drove home to break the news to my family, the initial shock wore off.  My biggest concern was not in being a part of a massive lay off but rather how my children would respond.  That evening when my kids got home, I broke the news.  They were supportive and had complete faith that I would once again rebound from this major life challenge.  As reality set in, I sought to make our living circumstances as normal as possible but, deep within my heart I new my life would change that this transition was the end of one era in my life and the begining of a new era  or my transformation. 

The funny thing about life is that it has a habit of throwing punches when you least expect it.  Life is consistent in throwing punches so, when the blows comes you learn how to hit back.  The key differentiator is that you learn how to fight on a different level.  I knew that the outcome of my transformation would be profoundly different than the initial phase of my transition.  As I was thrown in the deep sea of life,  fear set in and just as quickly as it came, I sent it packing because the birth of a new dream began to take root.  “Start a business”  was the first thing that came to my mind.  The idea seem grand, but far fetched because the economic times did not agree with this idea.  Starting a business meant I would need capital, investors, a lawyer, an accountant and the reality is most business fail within the first year. 

I knew that I had two options given the economic crisis our country faced (highest unemployment, massive job losses, housing crisis and a financial firestorm), flight or fight.  Given my faith, I knew that failure was not an option so I choose to fight for what I believed in.  I learned long a go that “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen”.  Faith gives you the courage to move even when everything around you is dead.  Faith sustains you and allows you to pursue the impossible.  It is only when we experience life’s transition ( no matter how hard or painful they may be),  that we can experience a life changing transformation. 

Know thyself!  A maxim as pernicious as it is ugly.  Whoever observes
himself arrests his own development.  A caterpillar who wanted to know
itself well would never become a butterfly.  ~Andre Gide

 

       

 

We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes
it has gone through to achieve that beauty.  ~Maya Angelou

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