A few weekends ago, I took my oldest child to college. It was one of the proudest and yet saddest experiences of my life.
Even though I always knew this day would come, I still was not prepared for the mixed emotions I felt – so happy and excited for my child’s new college adventure, yet sad about saying goodbye to this part of my life.
For the past 18 years, my life has been full of first and last days of school, birthday parties, sporting events, driving lessons, making endless snacks and meals, and planning summer camps. Having one less person living day to day in our house is a huge change for my family and a big transition for me.
BELIEVE
To cope with this transition, my friends and I took a cue from Ted Lasso’s believe sign. We started a group chat to support one another during this next phase of life, sharing pictures of our drop offs at the various colleges, articles to help us cope with our emotions, lists of things to pack, moments of sadness, happiness and worry, and yes, pictures of the Ted Lasso believe sign.
I’ll be honest, believing is hard – change is hard – but believing it will be OK and believing in myself has encouraged me and given me new energy. And I have noticed it is also inspiring those around me to be stronger, too.
WHAT’S NEXT
I am now trying to figure out what is next for me to embark on in my life. I know that taking my child to college is the end of a lot of things but I also believe that it is the beginning of many new things.
I have a new sense of flexibility and freedom in my days that can open up the door to many opportunities, adventures and experiences. I have more time to explore new interests, hobbies and read more books. I can carve out time to be more social with my friends and meet new ones along the way. I can reinvent myself and learn new skills, like becoming a genius at Microsoft Excel.
In fact, we can all have new beginnings many times during our lives – when we start a new job, return to the workforce, pivot or transition in a career, or even taking our children to college.
For those of you experiencing a new chapter in your life, take a deep breath and be kind to yourself. Focus on the positives because this can help you move forward and trust in your heart and intuition.
Believe in yourself, your skills, abilities and what you can do, seek out the good things happening in your life and focus on them. We all have what it takes to achieve our personal and career goals, we just need to believe.
Coach Lasso would expect no less.
