Transition, even when it’s related to “positive change,” can be very hard on us.
I remember all the moves I made going to work for diff sports teams, & while I was excited at each new challenge – the greater responsibility, the new team to work w, the new apartment…there was always an adjustment period.
I’d go into each situation saying, it’s gonna take 6 months to feel comfortable…& that’s coming from someone who left home to go to college & loved every second of it, the minute I got on campus. But what you get in college – thousands of kids on the same schedule as you, doing the same activities as you, going to the same parties, same gyms, same ROUTINE…you don’t get in the real world.
Took this pic w Oakley on his 1st trip to Central Park, ever. He grew up in the “burbs.” That meant all his walks had lots of grass. It meant at most, 1 or 2 other ppl were walking at the same time. It meant very little noise. Now he’s in the city & it’s a concrete jungle, horns are honking everywhere, he doesn’t know any doggie friends yet, & there are thousands of ppl walking by him each day. It’s a shock to the system when the changes are this drastic.
Similarly, for me (& the advantage I have over a/my dog is, I can reason w myself), even when change is positive, change messes w your comfy routine & throws you off a bit.
I believe our brains like the tracks we’ve laid & are used to, bc they takes less work. So back to the above, even when the changes are positive, they wear on us (right now it’s – what’s my go-to supermarket, deli, bar, b-ball court, etc.).
Interesting microcosm for the work we must do to improve our MH. We have to do things out of our comfort zone. These things may be new/harder, at first, but laying those tracks they become part of our “routine.”
