When we pick up on the Israelites story today, we find them in what William Bridges, in his book Transitions, calls “the neutral zone.” And I don’t know about you, but that word neutral immediately makes me think of being stuck. You put your car in neutral and floor the gas- doesn't matter, you’re not going anywhere. And that feeling isn’t too far off from how Bridges defines this part of a transition. He says that the Neutral Zone: (SLIDE) the in-between time where you hang suspended between what “was and ...
When we pick up on the Israelites story today, we find them in what William Bridges, in his book Transitions, calls “the neutral zone.” And I don’t know about you, but that word neutral immediately makes me think of being stuck. You put your car in neutral and floor the gas- doesn't matter, you’re not going anywhere. And that feeling isn’t too far off from how Bridges defines this part of a transition. He says that the Neutral Zone: (SLIDE) the in-between time where you hang suspended between what “was and will be” (p.40)
Basically, this is the part of the transition where we wait. And wait and wait and wait some more. And it’s not always pretty when we wait for an extended period of time. We can get impatient, we can want to give up...all the momentum has run out once we hit the neutral zone, and we have to figure out if we’re going to make it to what comes next or if we’re going to bail.
I don’t know what kind of change or transition you might be going through right now- it might be a job change, the end of a relationship, trying to get your kids back on a school schedule, or beginning to care for an aging parent. It might be a transition that you’ve chosen or one that you’re dreading. But I do know that at some point, each and every one of us during a transition is going to want to give up. We’re going to wonder if it’s worth it or we’re going to hit a patch of grief that feels too big.
If that’s where you are today- if you’re wondering if you’re going to make it through, or you’re just exhausted by the waiting- I want to encourage you to keep going. Perseverance doesn’t magically take the hard stuff away. But it does point us toward hope and what’s possible.
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