In our lives,
We pass through many transitions.
For many of us,
The transition from our working,
Professional lives to the kind of life that lies beyond may be among the most challenging.
Unlike earlier transitions,
Like the birth of our first child,
Marriage,
Divorce,
Or the death of a parent,
The transition out of our professional identity may happen more quietly,
Without an obvious outward marker.
As a result,
We may feel this transition coming from within more than we had with earlier transitions,
Possibly spurring an inner transformation if we are wise enough not to resist.
But as with any transformation,
This one too has the potential to cause alarm.
As we look back at our careers,
We may see successes and we may see defeats,
But probably not as many nor as profound as we might have thought.
We may see a lot of busyness of getting work done,
And we may wonder at all we did just to keep things running,
And perhaps feel some satisfaction at having participated in something worthwhile or perhaps lament the time spent on work that now seems,
In retrospect,
Of less lasting value than we had hoped.
Now we find that we are moving out of that busyness,
And if we are able we may wish to see with softer eyes our past selves,
The ambitions and the errors.
If so,
We may be able to welcome the end of that experience with greater love and acceptance.
Here,
Anchored in stillness,
We may find a gentler space,
One less driven by time and ambition.
At the same time,
We may awaken one day with some alarm when we realize that we are no longer who we used to be and that we do not yet know who or what we will become.
For those of us who fought uncertainty all of our lives,
Which is most of us,
This realization will,
Naturally,
Arouse some anxiety because the old expectations we had for ourselves we can no longer carry.
And what we can envision turning our eyes ahead to may well be unsatisfactory,
Since all we can project onto our future selves may be only what we have already known,
Though perhaps in different form.
In other words,
Any concrete goals or plans we might set now may well be but a projection of a desire we have always held or which has held us,
But which no longer fits the moment.
But if we are quiet and patient,
We may sense a new valuation arising,
One in which the quality of our days,
Not the quantity of what we produce,
Will be the measure of our worth.
Do we live well?
Do we live right each day?
Here in this limbo between what we were and what we might become,
We will no doubt falter at times in our faith that what will come will be good and right,
But when we rest in the present moment,
Accompany the knowledge of who we were but no longer tethered to that identity,
A softer way of knowing may arise,
Which will allow us to welcome both the uncertainty and the hope.
Let's take a few moments together to reflect upon our places in this journey,
The transition we may be moving through,
From who we were to who we may become,
Reflecting upon what of our more worldly selves we are able to leave behind,
Gently and with compassion,
And what we may be able to move into intuitively,
Imbued more with light than doing.
Let's take a few moments to reflect.
Thank you,
Friends.
I hope this reflection and brief meditation has been pleasant and helpful.
I'd love to hear your thoughts.
Be well.
