How do you deal with life transitions?  

I tend to get pretty stressed out by all kinds of changes, even little ones sometimes. I told my fiance while we were getting ready for our move "I will probably cry more than once after we move. But don't think it's because I'm sad to be there, or sad to have made the move. It's just how I deal with things sometimes." True to form, there have been a few tears, mostly over completely inconsequential things. I think exercise will be another good way for me to destress, if I ever get around to using my silly exercise DVDs. :)

We've both ended up adapting fairly easily to big city life (as opposed to small town life), though we do keep to ourselves an awful lot. I haven't quite figured out how two shy people are supposed to get out and meet new friends, but I'm trying. We've met a few new people through friends we already had in the area, and I imagine that will gradually widen out our circle of friends.

I dunno, I figure if we are pretty comfortable with life, we're doing okay. There are moments of panic every now and then, but they just make things more interesting. Especially when I panic over something completely silly, and my fiance gets to laugh while he calms me down. Good memories. :)

Change is scary, but like you said, it can also be the best thing you ever do. I think every time a change happened in my life, I learned something from it. Whether the change was good or bad, it made me into a better person. And even if a change is a good change, the stress seems to be just as strong, so you are doing the right thing by taking care of yourself, looking at all the positives and focusing on things one day at a time. The biggest thing that I need to constantly remind myself during times of change is to only focus my energy on the things that I have control over. No point in getting stressed out and focusing my energy on things that I can't control.

My biggest life transition was definitely getting pregnant and having my son. Being a person who likes to plan absolutely everything, this was a huge shock to me. First of all, the pregancy was not planned, so talk about a big shock. Then, try to buy clothes, paint the nursery etc without knowing if you are having a boy or girl, and it is not like I could plan when exactly I would be going into labor, so the stress was huge, but I kept focusing on the exciting things that were about to happen and it was a wonderful experience.

I've learned over the years how to cope. As life goes on, you just learn those coping skills or you can't adapt -- because let's face it, lief's changing all the time! My coping skills include getting together to talk things over with my friends (or sometimes family, depending on the situation.)

Moving out of the parent's house is a big life change, but you'll come to appreciate the differences even though you'll miss them.

My very biggest transition was when my marriage ended. It was very hard, in fact I sort of emotionally fell apart. But just remember, there is usually something new and exciting on the other side of life challenges.

Congratulations on the big move, how exciting, another chapter in your life. Well done nerdytina!

For me I have moved two different countries and even though at first it is very scarey (and you are allowed to feel scared LOL) I had my husband to guide me because he lived in Samoa before so he was like my tour guide who I stuck to pretty much the first 4-6 months. As I got to know the place, meet family and so forth, things started to get a little easier. I had to get use to the different lifestyle from fastpace to slow, different work ethics and on top of that learning about the Samoan culture and language (which I still have difficulty with most of the time).

If you have an open mind and don't expect too much from where your going to, expect that cultures and traditions are different to yours etc, then you will be ok. If you go there thinking its not going to work for you even before you get there, then it may not only because you have already decided it is not going to work.

I like challenges, I like jumping into the unknown, I like to see the world and this was my first opportunity to do so, so I went with it and had a good life in Samoa. Of course there were ups and downs but I was surprised that I actually made some very good friends and met some wonderful family members and I was really sad to leave.

Now that we are in the USA, a whole new ballgame, much much bigger than New Zealand, its taken me a while to settle down but because now I am a stay at home mom, I get to spend most of my time with my son, and I have thoroughly enjoyed it and he has too. I have yet to make friends, and I think I have made more online than face to face. I am enjoying my new life and look forward to what lies ahead.

I really hope it does work out for you my friend, all the best and do let us know how your doing. I forgot to mention, its ok to miss your family too, because I did terribly in the first year, and then slowly I got use to it. Thanks to the internet, email, etc, I was able to constantly keep in touch. Good Luck and sorry for my novel :)

WEll,,we all just have to deal with it.,it's something everyone's going to face in some term of their life. I have to face going bankrupt when my father died and a few years later my mom lost all the money we had to some con artist pretending to love her. we lost all houses, cars and everything,.i transitioned from driving cars to taking the bus. we moved to my mom's dad's house to live. at the same time i got pregnant and got married with my husband while still going to college. I thought i was losing it,.i missed my dad a lot and i can't stand seeing my mom and my two brothers suffer. but with the support of everyone around me, i passed through it. now i'm working, my brothers are working and going to college while my mom is trying to open a catering business from zero. we're still short of money most of the time, but we're coping with everything better now.
That's just the way life is I guess,.

Hello Nerdytina. :)

I haven't really experienced a big change in my life yet, nor a "difficult" transition or something like that because I have always lived near my parents. The university where I'm attending now is only 36 km from home. :). Though I don't get to visit home often its still like being home because my parents visit me every now and then. I really love to try being away though, where no one knows me and I don't know anyone. It sounds scary, knowing that you are all you have, but the thought of it also sounds pretty interesting, just like a great adventure! :)

I hope I'll be able to get a scholarship somewhere very far away from home, as in like, outside the Philippines so I'll know how I can cope. I think it would be interestingly challenging.

Wishing you well on your next big change. I hope everything will turn out more than you ever expect. God bless you. :)

i try to focus on the positives of life rather than the negative aspects...i also take each day as it comes and dealing with lifes little hurdles appropriately

Hey, i've also esxperience moving from house to another, from one work to another, meet new friends. You know,Things happens for a reason, God would not put you in a situation that you cannot bare. Just have the courage to move on. Don't be stress, just be yourself, be confidence, be happy. Being nervous about new things is normal but if oyu feel that way, just remember GOD I ALWAYS THERE FOR YOU. JUST TRUST HIM AND BE FAITHFUL. :-)

Really, I'm kind of wimpy when it comes to change. I guess the biggest change might have been moving out of my mom's home, but it wasn't really stressful or hard. Maybe the hardest transition was dealing with my parent's divorce, although that wasn't really MY transition. starting the business was freaky, too, but in a good way. 20 years old and had to act like i'd been doing it for years, but i knew it would be the best thing for me in the long run. and i guess that's how you should look at your situation, like the only things that can come from it are positive ones.

college didn't freak me out too much. School's about the only thing i'm good at, it's kind of natural for me, being a big dork. and i've always lived in this town or really really close to it. I'm not sure what i would do to keep my stress low. Take some valium? j/k. I really don't know. I guess i just know that i wouldn't handle change very well so i try to avoid it. ohh that's a bad way to be.

This is a good question for me to answer because I am just days away from a BIG move. For the first time, I'm moving far away from my family and friends and from the only state I've ever called home. How am I dealing with it? Well, there's definitely a lot of apprehension and nervousness about it, but I'm an adult and I know it's time to fly the nest so to speak. I look at it as an adventure and I'm moving into this new transition with an open mind and an open heart. Change is inevitable and people can either accept it with open arms or resist it and stay stuck in a rut forever.