As we draw closer to switching the clocks for daylight savings time this year, I’m feeling less dread.

Most years it’s a pretty rough transition. We only lose one hour of sleep on the weekend, but it throws off my sleep schedule for most of the next week.

When I don’t sleep enough, my body rebels. My digestive system can get so inflamed that it hurts to drink cold water. My head can sometimes feel like it’s in a vice. My brain can get so foggy that I spend the whole day feeling like I haven’t quite woken up yet. Sometimes I can even feel my lymph nodes and gums swelling, even though I’m not sick.

Rather than going into an explanation of how losing sleep can cause inflammation and instead of giving you a bunch of tips for how to make it through the spring forward transition (I did that last year in this post), I want to tell you why I’m not dreading it quite so much this year, even though I know I’ll probably feel like a zombie for several days.

Sure, I’ll be doing some restorative yoga and meditation to help me shake the brain fog and adjust my sleep schedule. On top of my go-to spring forward tips, this year, instead of dreading the clock change, I’m using an old piece of wisdom from my mom along with a little trick I learned from coaching. Perhaps it will help you through a transition too.

When you put together the wisdom that “this too shall pass” with the proof that you have made it through other transitions, you can develop faith and trust that you will feel good again and then act.

Why Change is Hard yet reliable

Let’s face it. Whether it’s the spring forward transition, starting a new job, leaving a relationship, having a child, moving to a new city, holding your first challenging feedback conversation, becoming ill, or responding to the sting of a bully’s actions at work, change can be tough.

The discomfort you feel while you’re adjusting to new circumstances or when you meet an unusual challenge is real, even when you’re excited about the change. Every transition holds in it a death of what was, a birth of what’s coming, and the uncertain time between the two.

With it can come grief for what's gone and fear of what's next all at the same time. Eventually the sadness for what was starts to wane, and the new becomes more familiar and less uncertain.

Nature offers many examples of the reliability of change—the seasons, sunrise, sunset, moon phases, planetary movements, the weather.

Your life does too. Your liver is not the same liver it was two years ago. You learned how to walk, to drive, and to work. You’ve been through loss, whether it was your parents taking away your binky, you misplacing your wallet, a boss relieving you of your job, or a loved one leaving their body.

Sure, making it through the transition to daylight savings time is way easier than grieving a family member or job loss. I’m not minimizing the gravity of loss and change or suggesting that you just suck it up.

Instead, I’m proposing that acknowledging the proof of how much change you’ve already endured can help you have faith that you can make it another one, even if you feel stuck.

Your Experience is Your Proof

No matter what kind of change or disruption you’re experiencing…

The fact that you felt differently before is proof that you have the capacity to feel differently again, and you will feel differently again. You might not feel the same as you felt before, but how you feel will change again.

And again.

Once you believe that this is true and possible for you, you can then both accept the discomfort you might experience and take whatever action you need to keep moving through that discomfort until you do feel better again.

Sometimes you need a little help to do that.

My coaching clients come to me because they’re feeling stuck between wanting to create a change and being able to manifest it. They know it’s possible, and just can’t seem to make it happen despite having tried many tactics. Instead, they need someone to help them uncover what’s preventing them from doing so and to hold them accountable for taking steps to make it so.

At other times, a different kind of help is needed from a medical professional. What I’m offering here is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical or mental health condition. Please don't be indifferent to abuse. If you're in a dangerous situation, or if you’re feeling hopeless, please get the help you need.

Making it through a tough change requires patience, faith built on the proof of your lived experience, and scalable action. It’s ok to take just one small step and to do what feels manageable and right for you.

Speak Your Truth

When was a time you felt challenged with change and maybe wondered if you’d ever feel comfortable again? What’s your biggest challenge when it comes to making it through transitions? Let me know below in the comments.

Feel free to forward this to a friend who might need to read it. You never know when your kindness can be just what they need to have a breakthrough and create a new data point in their own proof that things do get better.

In wellness, joy, and inspiration,

Tami