Wellness by Diana Sweet MD
Transitions
When Everything Changes at Once
Please join me in my little corner of the internet, www.prettypractical.store— a place where I’ll be sharing the pretty and practical. This is my space to share what I love and what I’ve learned as a physician, realtor and person of a certain age walking this earth. My focus is on beauty with a plan to step into the home space and share my thoughts on wellness.
Today I’m talking transitions because I am in it.
Life transitions are messy. They arrive uninvited and usually visit at the same time. Kids launching, careers shifting, bodies changing, emotions deepening — all while the world outside feels chaotic and loud.
As a physician, I’ve spent years watching people navigate transitions — and I’ve learned something important: transitions don’t just happen in your calendar. They happen in your nervous system. They happen in your identity. They happen in the quiet moments when you realize you’re letting go of one version of your life… and you don’t know what the next version will look like.
One day you’re needed constantly. The next day your child is grown and leaving, and you’re staring at their empty bedroom with a mix of sadness and pride.
Career changes, even when you know it is time, are full of intense emotions. A career is identity, routine, purpose, and proof that you contributed something to your piece of the world. Career transitions come with grief. Tangled emotions of loss and pride and self doubt- could I have achieved more? At the same time they offer a choice and a chance to find your ikigai, a Japanese concept that roughly translates to “reason of being”.
And then there’s the physical part of aging that often accompanies these life transitions. Joints make noises that you thought could only be made by old wood floors. Your body starts doing things you didn’t order. My face feels like it is falling. Bloodwork starts revealing abnormalities that you can't feel.
How do we stay well and find peace throughout these transitions? Don't expect me to tell you the answer because it will be different for everybody.
For me, I find wellness in a couple places. My yoga community. My friends and family. And my routines. My world as a mostly single mom, physician and realtor has forced me to keep a routine as best I can and to let go of things that are not in my wheelhouse. My kids' toilet is definitely not cleaned as often as it should be. I am a terrible cook-sorry kids-thank god for food delivery.
I hope some of this resonates with you and that I can offer tidbits of knowledge along with products that I find pretty and practical.