Part 4:From Awareness to Transformation-> Living the Process
- Jun 8
- 4 min read
Welcome back to my blog series on Turning Tricky Transitions into Transformation. In the last post, (Go here to read Parts 1-3), I shared my Transformation Model, which I conversationally refer to as the arrow. It is a simple illustration of the repeatably predictable pattern that occurs in the lives of all who endeavor to be engaged with personal growth ongoing.
And for Christians, we embrace the notion that scripture compels us to be somewhere on that arrow all the time:
Living continually in a state of receptivity re: being changed into the image of God and the example of Christ; moving steadily - but never arriving completely in this life - from the ‘old man’ to the ‘new man’ through the transformational work of His Spirit in us.
No matter our differences, we share a universal experience of what personal growth and integration look and feel like. Just as the beach dwellers found something of their own human struggle mirrored in Jim’s very visible learning curve, we recognize ourselves in the effort of mastering life’s many transitions — from unsteady beginnings to moments of balance, and back again.
And it is in how we move through these transitions that determines what we become.
As I previously explored, there is great value in knowing where you are in the process:
Am I navigating a transition where the discomfort of change is simply part of growth rather than evidence that something is wrong - or wrong with me? Or have I already crossed the threshold between the old and the new and am now learning to inhabit a different reality?
Identifying where you are in the transformation journey provides context for interpreting your experience accurately.
For example:
Context for understanding your emotions — recognizing that uncertainty, grief, confusion, or restlessness may be normal responses to a particular stage rather than signs that something is wrong.
Context for making sense of your circumstances — understanding whether you are being invited to release, transform, align, or embody rather than trying to force the next phase prematurely.
Context for choosing appropriate actions — different stages require different responses. What is helpful in The Unraveling may be unhelpful in The Integration.
Context for setting realistic expectations — reducing the tendency to judge yourself for not being where you think you "should" be.
Context for recognizing growth — seeing that what feels like disruption may actually be evidence of movement and transformation.
Context for discerning what is being asked of you now — helping you identify the invitation, challenge, and opportunity unique to your current season.
When you know where you are on the arrow, you gain a framework for making sense of what you are experiencing, reducing unnecessary self-judgment, and identifying the next faithful step forward.
If we are truly committed to the lifelong journey toward wholeness, integration, and total well-being - to becoming the best version of ourselves - then we will be, in a sense, somewhere on this arrow all the time.
Each time we move from noticing on the left end to embodiment on the right, we are navigating the transitions within the adaptation process; and it is in that navigation itself that change either deepens into transformation or quietly dissolves back into habit.
By remaining receptive, a new awareness of an old, unhelpful pattern or a broken place will eventually draw us back to the start once more. And so it goes. It is in this constantly-becoming process that we find not only fulfilling lives, but also our capacity to bring our uniquely meaningful contribution to the world around us.
Stay tuned for the last part of this series, when I focus on a pivotal success factor for experiencing true change from the transitions we go through: Alignment.
Meanwhile, I invite you to consider:
• Could it be that the stress I am experiencing is not a sign that something is wrong, but a normal response to being in transition?
• Or is it possible that I am on the other side of transition, and I am being invited to recognize and embrace the new state that has already emerged?
• Am I trying to return to what was, rush ahead to what is next, or fully engage with what this season is inviting me to learn?
• What invitation might this season be extending to me that I have not yet fully accepted?
**My offer: If you have been stirred to further explore where you are in your story arc, and would like a professional partner to come alongside you, I invite you to contact me.
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Blessed to play a part ~
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