Embrace the Discomfort of Change

This morning I woke up (on a mattress on the floor) surrounded by boxes. Lots of boxes. Between now and unpacking them in Singapore in August, I’ll be living from a suitcase at “no fixed address”.

As you might imagine, moving home and hemisphere comes with mixed emotions. Sadness at a chapter closing. Excitement about what the next one holds. Anxiety about how my teenage sons will adjust to new schools. A tad of overwhelm at all that’s been involved in organising this move in a short amount of time.

Certainly, I’ve had my work cut out for me ‘leaning into life’s curves’ over the last 8 weeks since my husband’s career led to a ‘plot twist’ as I wrote about in this previous blog.

Change is never comfortable. It’s not easy trading the familiarity of the known for the uncertainty of the unknown. It’s why people so often avoid it, opting to stick with the status quo even when it’s making them miserable or leaves them stagnating.

As I sit here in what was once my family room, surrounded by boxes and waiting for a large truck to arrive to load them up, I’m mindful that change is part and parcel of life. Only by opening our arms wide to it, however unsettling it feels, can we adapt to it faster and find opportunities that may otherwise lay hidden.

I’ve relocated around the world before (at least this time I don’t have three children under 4 as I did when I moved to the US in just after  9/11) and I’m sure I will again. So I know it’s natural to mourn what is being left behind – friends, family, community, professional networks and favourite haunts. Yet I also know it’s important to embrace a sense of adventure, curiosity and wonder for what lays ahead.
 
What will life in Asia hold? Beyond humidity, I can’t know. Yet I’m certain that whatever ‘learning opportunities’ and adventures lay ahead, my family and I will be all the richer for it. For now though, I’m sitting with the rich tapestry of emotions as one chapter draws to a close and I prepare for the next to begin (with a family holiday in between).
 
I also invite you to think about where you might be resisting change in your own life or could be a little braver in saying Yes to the possibilities that flow when we dare to let go the familiarity of the known.

The best things in life always require a little discomfort. So while I’ve no idea what Asian adventures await… I’m expecting good things! I also look forward to sharing them with you.