Embracing Change and New Beginnings

By Colleen Walsh Jednak | March 2, 2022

It has been a long time since I have written, and that is not because I didn’t have any content! With the pandemic, there seems to have been constant turbulence at a time when simultaneously it seemed impossible to create sustainable change.

I remember being little and waiting for change…change of class, change of season, growing up, better privileges. Adults seem to fear alterations in their current reality, and yet this flow of growth and opportunity is where the most glitter, improvement, and happiness can be found.

A year ago, I was living in Stamford, CT in an apartment on the water with my youngest son Jack, who was finishing college from his bedroom due to the continued lockdown of Covid. I was seeing life coaching and personal training clients virtually and trying to figure out what would come next when Jack graduated and moved out to pursue graduate school. Would I stay where I was? Move back to Westchester where I had lived most of my life? Move elsewhere for a new adventure? I had a sense that change was coming but didn’t really have a sense of what that migh entail.

I am a huge proponent of manifesting. I had an apartment filled with light and wanted to continue to live in the light. I love the work that I do and wanted to find ways to expand on that when I had more free time (that included more writing and LOOK! I am finally doing that!). I was ready to welcome love into my life and spent a lot of time visualizing what it would be like to have a partner in life to share laughter, thoughts, exercise, and adventures with.

My son Jack was graduating. Getting him through that in those uncertain times was my primary focus. We finally received an email that graduation would be in person…at a different campus, but in person. We had barely left home in over a year so we had mixed feelings about suddenly walking into a football stadium filled with people. A friend of mine whom I had known since grammar school worked at the University that Jack was graduating from. We hadn’t seen each other since college, but I sent him a note to see if he had any additional information that might be helpful as we planned our graduation day…

That reconnection with a friend that I had known for 45 years changed everything. We saw each other at graduation and each fell in love on the stadium steps. Luckily, we fell in love with each other…not with other random people in the stadium which would have just been awkward. By the end of July, we were planning a wedding and the next few months flew by.

There were logisitcs…he lived 100 miles away. We commuted back and forth for a few months. Mostly, he commuted back and forth…but he never complained about it. Funny. I knew I wanted to be with him and didn’t hesitate to marry him…but moving? That took a little more time to wrap my head around.

And then one day, I was ready. That happens with change sometimes. I had a million questions…could I set up my office? Can we hang the disco ball? Could we make the house very sunny and glittery? Is there a place I can paddleboard? Yesyesyesyesyes were the answers.

And so, the relocation is complete. I no longer live on the water in a building filled with millenials, but I do live in a very cute sun-filled house with glitter in every corner. There is a college campus brimming with Gen Z’s who I am sure will be just as entertaining and delightful as the millenials. I am happy.

I will continue to see my clients virtually and will visit my old stomping grounds every month or so for in-person sessions and social time with friends. Change leaves room for growth and possibility…and is sometimes hard. I’m trying to be present for all of it, manifesting amazing adventures ahead, and ready for visitors if you want to come and see the spectacular disco ball!!

Cheers to change and a happy spring of growth for all!

Fondly,

Colleen