David Bowie might have had something else in mind when he wrote this song, but we probably all had difficulties with the changes in our life.
Although interestingly, if you look back at each time your life was in the midst of transitions, among the challenges of being 'out of your comfort zone', you might find that somehow... you made it. I might even say, even better than before? It's not easy for us to see that at that moment. It takes time to see the way in which we've changed, the way in which we've grown.
Most of us forget what it takes and how it will ALL find it's 'place' again. Once that 'out of the comfort zone' becomes comfortable, we tend to forget the changing nature of our lives. This is most true for Expats, who along the journey of relocating and reinventing themselves in a new setting, can become unsettled by the unplanned nature of integration, by the myriad of details imbedded in adapting to new ways of being. It is at these times of uncertainty that many of our unresolved issues of belonging and worth may pop to the surface. And let's face it, we all have 'unresolved' issues of belonging and worth.
It's not like we ever 'fix' these issues entirely. It is an ongoing, developing, unfolding process. An evolution of sorts, while we live the entirety of our life. Each stage, connected to the next, recycling right into something new with many of the old parts.
At these times, it might be helpful to remember, how many times this has happened in your life. How many times you've met this changing, questioning, uncertain nature of your life. How you learned from it all, what you know now that perhaps you didn't then. Most importantly, it might be useful to replay in your mind the many ways in which you surfaced, seemingly unscathed from it all. The many ways in which you 'came out' stronger somehow and more capable to meet the ch-ch-ch-changes in your life.
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