Book Review: Transitions by William Bridges

Transitions: Making Sense of Life’s Changes, Revised 25th Anniversary Edition By William Bridges

Sometimes life transitions can sneak up on us. From the outside it may look like we have a great family, great job and a wonderful life, but inside we feel unsettled and out of sorts. Something is wrong, we just don’t know what. Things we used to enjoy have no meaning. We are short tempered, anxious or depressed, or all three. We may even feel like we are going crazy.

At other times life transitions are more apparent, although not more pleasant. They can be the result of a birth, a death, a job loss, a new job, marriage, divorce, or any number of life altering events.

The thing is, life transitions are a normal part of life.

William Bridges, author of Transitions: Making Sense of Life’s Changes, Revised 25th Anniversary Edition differentiates transitions from change by defining change as situational and transitions as psychologoical and further defines a transition as “the inner reorganization and self-redefinition that you have to go through in order to incorporate change into your life.”

External changes can lead to periods of transition. These can be losses in relationships, or changes in your home life, work, career or finances and/or personal changes. Internal shifts such as spiritual awakenings, psychological insights and/or changes in self-image can also result in periods of transition.

Transition periods have three parts-an ending (of something), an in-between space and a new beginning. Each period or phase can be difficult, but the in-between space can often be the most confusing. We want to rush through it to the other side, when most often we need to just sit with it and see where it takes us.

If you are in the midst of some life change or feel unsettled, anxious, or just plain old ‘discombobulated’, you may be in a period of transition.

You are okay. What you are feeling is normal. You are not going crazy. Read this book to help find your way. It is easy to read and written in a manner that is both engaging and informative.

This book will help you recognize the different stages of transitions and what to do when you are in the midst of a transition.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who is awakening to their own life purpose, changing jobs, building a new life, or experiencing any of life’s myriad number of states of ‘flux’.

This book has a permanent place in my personal library. Life transitions come and go and I am happy I found this book to help me during these periods.