Soon after I moved to Orlando, a New York friend sent me Transitions, Making Sense of Life's Changes, by William Bridges. Since I think I know it all, I don't normally read "self-help" books. In deference to my good friend, I skimmed through it. I discovered that Bridges drew on the writings of Mircea Eliade and Carlos Castaneda, two writers I had connected with decades ago and almost forgotten. I then read the book slowly, stopping to think how I had handled the many changes in my life. The lesson I learned was that I almost always skipped the Neutral Zone.
Bridges talked about three stages of change: Endings (Letting Go), Neutral Zone, and New Beginnings. When my life went into a tailspin, I had almost always pulled my Wonder Woman routine and immediately jumped into something new (career, city, whatever).
That wasn't possible in Orlando. There was nothing to jump into. So I spent time in the Neutral Zone until, magically, new beginnings appeared.
Ninja Turtles
Once Wonder
Woman was my name.
I met
impossible deadlines.
Turned
around companies.
Launched million-dollar
deals.
One
superhero fades away.
New ones
come out to play.
Life is a
series of transitions.
I have a
different role in the village.
Now, I work
for purposes larger than myself.
I connect
with a new family generation,
delighting
in pottery painting, Play- Doh and
Teenage
Mutant Ninja Turtles.
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