You step on the soil of your new overseas assignment. You change sending organizations or in-country positions for a new project with a whole new team. 

You change housemates or marry or have children. You return to your country of passport for a year of furlough…or for an undetermined amount of time…or permanently.

When anyone is faced with change, good or bad, turmoil starts internally, and things become unfamiliar externally. William Bridges calls transition the Neutral Zone (NZ), the nowhere between two somewheres, in Managing Transitions: Making the Most of Change (2003). Those in transition feel like they fell into a no-man’s land, stuck between past known identities/realities and unknown new ones. 

When change happens, by choice or by accident or by decree, something(s) must end before something(s) can begin. Endings are a form of dying and this can release relief, but most often releases grief. With grief comes denial, anger, bargaining, panic, sadness, and uncertainty in various forms and for indeterminate periods of time based on personality and situation. Other NZ symptoms include low motivation, self-doubt, anxiety, depression, memory lapses, illness, fatigue, resentment, defensiveness, fear, and hopelessness. 

God has given access to His help through prayer and meditation on the Scriptures. Time spent gleaning wisdom and faithful promises from His proven Word are essential anchors to wandering in the fog of the NZ. As the Creator of all life and the master over death, He is the source to cling to for future guidance and well-being.

Self-care, supportive relationships, intentional emotional release, reflections on past positives and achievements, and engaging a counselor or life coach to help navigate the NZ are some practical steps someone in transition can take. 

Do your best to embrace the ups and downs of the Neutral Zone. Determine to gain from the pain and not deny or run away. You will come out on the other side with God’s help and focused self-determination, sunlight shining once again on a new day with new emotional muscles and new life appreciation and new stories to tell.