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i heard the best sermon in church this week. (if i'm honest with you all, i don't really remember the last time i heard a message that i truly needed, and truly helped me - but that may be another story for another time).

it was about transitions (hence blog title).

and it got me thinking: some of the absolute worst times in my life were when i was in a time of transition. the pastor apparently agreed with my inner feelings on this topic and presented his own ideas of frustration that the times of our lives never manage to seemlessly flow from one stage to the next - there's always this awful struggle between the two states. it's this battle between what you once knew and what you're supposed to be learning anew (and it never seems to come easily). without fail, it's in these times of transition - that we are most apt to get off-track. we lose sight of the reason we started something in the first place (could it be that that's the reason transitions are so awful? do we extend our own "transitional period" by taking our own eyes off the prize? do we cause our own unhappiness?)

thinking on this, i started looking up things about the word "transition" and i found this definition to be QUITE interesting:

• an event that results in a TRANSFORMATION; a change from one place or state or subject or stage to another.

transformation, eh? no wonder our stages of life never occur one right after the other without a break in between. no wonder it's so easy to stray from our path. why would we expect a TRANSFORMATION to come that easily?

in a few weeks, i'll be attending a college graduation that falls on my one year anniversary of graduating myself. i got in a fabulous conversation with a friend about how, in no way, do i envy these soon-to-be recent college grads. last year, when i took the walk across that platform, i wish someone would have warned me of the "punch to the gut" that life would throw my way this entire year post-grad. i have a feeling that while i watch these goofy-hatted-oversized-gown-wearing grads, i'll be shaking my head in pity for them, as they have no idea what's headed there way. pessimistic? maybe.... realistic? definitely.

it's got me wondering: since hind-sight is always better than foresight - what would i have done differently this past year? i can think of a few minor "bad decisions" that i could have lived without (don't ask. don't tell.) but when it comes down to it, i'm not sure that i would change a thing, because it caused an inevitable transition period (yuck) that is leading me continually in the direction of a transformation (the cherry on top).

one thing i DO NOT regret - is that i did SOMETHING. when i moved to the city, i had no idea if it was "where i was supposed to be" - "what i was supposed to be doing" - "who i was supposed to be with"... but you know what?

i tried.

i moved.

i took a step.

so i'll leave you with this quote(for whatever it's worth):

"we stand still and tell GOD - 'if you show me where to go, i'll take a step' - but GOD stands still and says to us - 'take a step and i'll show you where to go' "

so if nothing else,
keep moving.