By Cynthia Smith, EdD



Many stops and starts define our life's journey. Job transitions happen. One day, we wake up to discover that our once beloved position no longer serves us or that our job has been eliminated. What happens to those emotions and tangible relics of both realized and dashed dreams?

Artifacts that once decorated our office or cubicle now create a logjam in our basement, attic or trunk of our car. Often, we tend to hold on to stuff way too long without appropriately honoring these vital elements that help define us. We tell ourselves we'll get around to reorganizing or tossing these items someday.

Set aside time to examine every item. Revisit the memories and the stories that these items bring to mind. Ask yourself how they may affect your next working environment. What do these collectibles tell your employees or colleagues about you? Is their story still relevant? Do these things still resonate with who you have become? If not, consider donating, re-gifting or throwing away these tchotchkes.

It's not just physical junk that produces paralysis during job transitions. We stuff our minds with sometimes inaccurate interpretations of past experiences.

Joanne Jaworski, a success coach, says, "What most people don't realize is that we hold emotions and beliefs in our body and energy." She encourages everyone to revisit past events. Our secret storage places, whether in the basement, in our mind or in our body, can be reorganized and repurposed. Love, honor and accept every issue and every item. Appropriately display those that are meaningful. Delight in personal and professional achievements.

Discarding debris which no longer has value will create clarity, from which new purpose will emerge. Take a deep breath, then move forward with freedom.

Smith is president of Facilitating Innovation. She can be reached at csmithedd@gmail.com.

This column is written by members of the Rochester Women's Network (www.rwn.org).