Living in a Season of Unraveling and Transition
The last few months have felt tense with anticipation. I feel it in my chest and throughout my bones. Have you ever been going through your day and suddenly noticed a tightness in your chest, realizing you have been holding your breath? Only to take in air and release it for a moment. Then, just for a moment, relief. A weight shifts.
My word for this year is preparation. I think I came to this point in my life tired of waiting for change to happen and too exhausted to take steps to make it happen. I feel that life, with all its uncertainties, can cause us to get lost in the stress and responsibilities of adult life. There can be an easy temptation to allow ourselves to become lost in life’s storms. I have talked a lot recently about unlearning, and I think one of the things I am unlearning in adulthood is that sometimes strength means standing in the storm, but other times it means stopping in the middle, finding shelter, resting, and reorienting yourself to what is true.
I came to this realization: I have a tendency to wait for the next thing to happen. This can look like waiting for the weekend, the next vacation, or, as a child, waiting to become an adult. While there is a positive side to this habit, it can help us to get through difficult times or meet goals we set. I am realizing that sometimes it can hold us in place when we are meant to move. The last few years have felt like walking around aimlessly in circles, hoping circumstances would change. This year, after years of waiting, I decided I wouldn’t just think about how I wanted the future to look. I would take a step.
In the midst of this tension, I’ve taken action steps toward the future. I find myself starting on a new path in life. Not only am I in a period of preparation, but I’m also transitioning into a new season. This transition period has brought moments of holding my breath, trusting things will work out, renewed freedom, and a sense of self. On the horizon, I see a new chapter, and for the first time in a long time, I find myself excited for what is to come.
Proverbs 3:5 (NIV)
“Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.”
As the year comes to a close, I find myself in this space. I find that each step has brought some form of letting go that doesn’t always make sense in the moment. I have tried to find a word for this in-between place I am in. For some reason, initially the word shedding came to me, and as I have reflected, the word that feels like it fits the best is unraveling.
Once again, Hebrews 12:1 comes to mind:
“Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” (NIV)
I think that sometimes, to persevere, we need to throw off things that are not always sinful in order to thrive and be ready for the next chapter in our lives. It’s strange how unraveling often doesn’t feel like preparation, but in the process of letting go, we can heal, make space, and open our hands to whatever adventure is waiting in the next chapter.
What are some things you have had to let go of?
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