The new buzzword these days seems to be Transition. Everyone seems to be in the mode of transitioning from one mode to another: Oprah transitioning from a daytime talk show host to the owner of a network, OWN; Maria Shriver transitioning from a 25 year celebrated marriage to divorced, mega-power TV reporter; college graduates are transitioning from 16 years of schooling to the workforce; and many of us are transitioning from long-term careers to pursue our passions. The common denominator in all these transitions is fear.

Fear is the common theme because while our lives are always evolving and changing. When a person is transitioning to something thatʼs unfamiliar to them, we become shaken by the unknown, the lack of knowledge, experience or a less than steady foundation. We tend to initially focus on all the things that can go wrong, due to our lack of knowledge or familiarity to the subject. Sometimes our fear of failure becomes so great that we procrastinate taking the steps forward and instead take two steps backward to the old comfortable familiar. Unfortunately,if we elect to step backwards, we miss the golden opportunity to leverage the greatest asset of transition, which is growth.

I have always embraced change and transitions because it gives me the ability to grow in ways I never thought possible. Through growth, I become more knowledgable, I strengthen skills I already have, and I expand my skill base to a new subject or skill. This new skill gives me the ability to view issues from a new perspective.

As an example, starting the Glam-Mother business has increased my knowledge of running a web-based business. This is a topic I had no knowledge of before my starting Glam-Mother. I now have a better appreciation of the value of social media and how to use it to grow my business. Through Glam-Mother Facebook, I now have close to 6,000+ fellow Glam-Mothers, who embrace the role of grandmothers in a completely different mode than our grandmothers!! If I allowed fear to take over my thoughts, and focused on all the bad things that might occur instead of the good things, Glam-Mother would not exist.

Fear of transition should be used as the fuel to catapult you forward to embrace change. Leverage the fear to make your transition a smoother movement to something that will increase your knowledge and make you a more powerful person. We should also remember that if we stumble or fall, we will only become stronger for our efforts. Letʼs not also forget: transitioning to something new does not require you walk the path alone.

We should feel free to reach out to family, friends and coworkers — they can certainly help make the path to this new goal a little smoother. Finally, remember to have a little fun as you transition, meeting new and interesting people, making fun of your lack of knowledge or having fun experimenting with something new or different!!!

As you are aware by now from reading my blog, Iʼm fond of sayings and poems. Hereʼs one on transition that I review periodically to keep me focused.

Transition
It is the gap of transition that shakes us.
Those moments before true movement has been achieved,
that bring us to a level of uncertainty.
Let us embrace those moments when change has not yet come.
To see that this is a necessary moment,
before a new race has begun.
In quiet mindful moments the transition shall appear.
As we open up our hearts to hear the silence, we are now willing to
hear,
to see past all the dancing of the mind,
as a friend we can lovingly leave behind.
For we are now ready to embrace a new level of tranquility,
that is reflected at a deeper level of ourselves.
As we accept change… We may move forward…Embracing all that is
meant to be.
Robin Masiewicz