My Transitions - Part 1

Transitions coach - what do I know about that?

Well,  I am (a young) 70 years old and have been through many transitions. Today I will share about one. I plan to write about other transitions, but will start with this one, because its origin  goes back the furthest.

My parents married in 1942, during what became known as World War II. As a young wartime Canadian man, my father was subject to being conscripted into the armed forces. Rather than wait for that, and in order to have some choice, he enlisted voluntarily in the Royal Canadian Corps of Signals. While he was in basic training, I was conceived. Less than a month before my birth, he left on a troop ship for a dangerous North Atlantic crossing to England. My mother stayed where she was, several days train ride from family and friends in the West until I was born and old enough for the train trip.

Of course, I don't consciously remember that. In fact, my earliest memory is at age 2 when I recall being very frightened by being scooped up by a stranger - probably my own father.

When I was in my 30s I began to wonder about my relative emotional flatness and what seemed like some kind of hindrance in my spiritual development. Reading about the discoveries of Dr. Thomas R. Verny (The Secret Life of the Unborn Child) and others about the effects of prenatal and early influences on personality, I had reason to think that being born of a young first time mother, whose husband might never return alive, and being fatherless for the 2 first crucial years of life, likely affected me.

In my late 30s, I was visiting with a former pastor of mine and talking about the various effects of  unforgiveness. He encouraged me, on the spot, to begin to pray and ask God to reveal areas in which I may need to forgive. I had no preconception as to what might come up and I certainly did not expect what happened next.

As I began to pray and ask for revelation, all of a sudden the floodgates of my emotions burst open. I began to weep strongly and to proclaim my forgiveness of my father for "abandoning" me, of my mother for modelling emotional flatness, and of the Canadian government and military for taking my Dad from me. 

I was shocked. My logical, cerebral brain told me that my Dad did not intend to abandon me, he wrote home, sent money, was always very dutiful and loved his family; that my mother was a "strong woman" who did the best she could quite amazingly; that war is hell even for governments - but my heart and gut were not buying it. See http://goo.gl/bB5E6

That day was a large step of transition for me, a mental, emotional and spiritual transition that is still continuing.

If you think you could relate to me and that I could help you with some transition in your life, email me at waverockcoaching@gmail.com for a free introductory session.

Lorne