I love words. I love to read words, to write words, to speak words, to listen to words. There is, however, one word in particular that I do not like to read or write or speak or hear.
Transition.
I do not like the word transition because when that word is spoken it means that things are about to change. I much prefer words like comfortable or familiar or schedule or…well, you get the gist. I don’t like change.
My favorite month is February, and not simply because it’s my birthday month (and definitely not because of Valentine’s Day but that’s another story for another day.) My favorite month is February because spring is still quite a long ways off and fall is just a distant memory and winter has settled in. The beautiful chaos of Christmas is over and the flurry of activity that spring always seems to bring with it has not yet arrived and it’s just quiet. It’s a time to reflect, a time to prepare, and a time to be still. Nothing ever seems to change in February.
It’s not that transition is bad. We all have to experience transitions and changes because that’s how we grow. I love the idea of progress, of moving forward, and transition plays a major part in that. I recognize that transition is a necessary, perhaps even a good, part of life.
Honestly, though, it’s hard for me to find joy in these transitory seasons of life. Sometimes it seems like we are all in constant conversation about the major, life changing events are coming up. We’re all so determined to be going somewhere that we hardly remember what it feels like to just be. It’s so important to remember that before any adventure or big transition, there must be a season of preparation.
Example: nobody just graduates from school by talking about how fun it will be to graduate. No one gets married after a single date (well, maybe some people do. I don’t know.) These major life events take work. You have to do homework and show up to class and get involved in the school before walking across that stage. You have to go on multiple dates and eventually get engaged and then actually plan the wedding before you walk down that aisle. My point. My point is that these big milestones that we’re all so excited to reach are a sometimes simply a culmination of all of the small milestones. Never discount the time of preparation when thinking about the biggest moments of your life. As my very favorite wordsmith of the literary world, J.R.R. Tolkien, so concisely stated: “Little by little, one travels far.” I think that the distance you cover, or the magnitude of your next “big moment” hinges on the value you put on the small moments.
