Facing Change As It Happens
We have a plan, my therapist and I.
The idea is to go toward it all, and not away.
To face it, embrace it, instead of retreating.
You see, it’s this time of year, I shared with him, when I quite literally take a fall. It’s been like this for a several years. Something about the August to September transition makes me a little blue.
I believe much of it is the wind down of my favorite season, summer. When the long days, the warm weather, and the unspoken freedom morph into cooler, shorter, more regimented times, I feel more confined somehow.
For one, there’s the return of my kids’ school schedules, which, though they are necessary for sanity, the drop offs, pick ups, lunch packing, and all the messages and procedures that go with it add a layer of institutionalization that makes summer so much more sexy.
There’s also the arrival of Q4. Business speak for, “We ain’t slowing down now because we have shareholders to appease and a profit margin to feed. This is the time to hustle, people!”
For the last twenty plus years, I’ve learned in my day job that September through December is not a time for slow down and reflection. It’s a corporation’s version of a hell week, though stretched out over 100-odd days.
Plus, I’m just not one for the pumpkin-spiced season like I used to be. And not that I ever was, however there was a time when enjoyed the fall holidays and their trimmings to some extent. But when Costo starts putting up 12-foot zombies and CVS’s promotional aisles fill up with witches and goblins now as early as mid-July, I cry fowl.
But here I am complaining, finding the pain spots instead of rejoicing them.
Yet, that was the distinction we made in session. I don’t have to celebrate if I don’t want to, but I can take an interest that works for me. I can show that I am here and paying attention. I don’t have to be contrarian, but instead be aware, acknowledge, and accept.
This, we agreed, would prepare me for what’s coming. Change. Because that’s all that seasons are: change. My therapist helped me take the anticipation out of anticipation for things I may not otherwise want to partake in.
By facing changes as they happen, AND while taking care of my emotional and physical needs at the same time, I see now that I can embrace all that the universe sends me at this transitional time of year. In doing so, I can set myself up for a nice fall, and not the bad kind.
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Photo by Juho Luomala on Unsplash
