He shifts in his seat and there is an uneasiness in his eye as he answers, "I'm okay. Things are pretty good. I can't complain."
We shift to the other people at the table for a beat. About a minute passes and I turn to him.
In earnest, I ask, "Are you okay?" Waiting for an answer beyond the polite answer I got to my initial "How are you?"
"Yeah."
"You feel like you're in transition."
"Wha??? What do you mean by that? That's a conversation starter right there."
"Really?" I ask, "I was just being honest."
We get interrupted as more people join our holiday party and say hello. I know it's not done though. A few minutes later he turns to me and asks me to clarify.
My friend is not one of those close, close friends where we know everything about each other but we are more than acquaintances. However, there are phases when we click and share and truly connect.
"You just feel like you've got things going well on one part of your life and that's moving but there's a part of your life that is stuck. That's taking more of your focus and energy."
"That's pretty much on the button. That's very astute of you."
"It was in the way you answered my question. They way you were unsure and hemmed and hawed when you answered."
Transitions are like that. They do take a lot of energy and focus. If you want to put it into scientific terms, as I will since I'm the product of two scientists and a science family, taking a material from one state into another takes a lot of energy.
Think about water. We need energy to create water vapor so it turns into a gas. We need energy to turn ice into liquid water.
Life is no different. We hit these points where we get stuck in-between states. Where we can either stay where we are or move into a new form. To grow and transform into a new state or phase of our lives. But it takes a lot of our energy to get there. We have to focus a lot of energy there to move on.
Everyone, at some point in their lives goes through this. Sometimes it only takes a little energy. The transition isn't huge. Sometimes it takes a lot because the transformation is going to be radical.
I'd like to say I recognized what was going on in my friend because I'm super duper intuitive and psychic. But, the truth is that I recognize it because I've been there.
Haven't we all?
