Mind the Gap

Delivered in a cool and sophisticated voice, the frequent passengers of London's tube have the opportunity of hearing this gentle word of caution a fairly bearable dozens of times a day. The theoretically helpful and unnamed woman seeks to remind riders that there is an unexpected space between the transition of train car floor to solid ground.



I've decided I desperately need to find this unnamed woman and have her calming voice narrate my life.



'mind the gap'
The subject of this post is due to the current 'gap' I inhabit in my own life, and the fact that someone very wise and dear to me pointed out this remarkable phrase whilst meters under the bustling London street level.

 

Life is full of gaps. They're uncomfortable. They're exciting. They're that moment when you step from a fast moving phase and realize that -temporarily- nothing occupies the space below your feet. It takes more than a shuffle to transport your little feet and heavy baggage from the train onto an unfamiliar platform.

Big steps cross the gaps.

 

With my short legs and, as result, petite strides, I openly admit that gaps are hard for me. Recent gaps have involved changes in living arrangements, lifestyle, eating habits, dressing habits, languages, and continents. The current gap I find myself in requires me to hop the Atlantic Ocean to be situated in a new apartment, new schedule, and new job.



It's a new platform to be sure. That being said, we are never without supports on new platforms. We have the familiar items in our luggage, and life is such that the basic layout of each platform is relatively the same. A warm bed, the availability of food, and running water are- thankfully- almost always nearby.

Fantastic friends, loving family, faith, and a healthy dose of optimism help us to 'mind the gap' in transitions. I find that the moment I've stepped onto a new platform and the safety of the train rolls away behind me, terror grips me and my stomach pretzels itself into an unadventurous and frightened knot.

However, the funny realization that gaps can teach us is the truth that once we wrestle with them and find a blissful sense of comfort, we can surprise ourselves by beginning to crave another one.
There are times for gaps and times to set down roots. Both phases are beautiful and both are precious to me.
Well...standing on an unfamiliar platform with suitcases in hand, I know that this gap WILL be precious to me in retrospect. They always are. With every hiccup will come a solution. Every moment of sheer terror will be countered by a kind stranger giving directions and a friend taking a similar journey.
As we all arrive on new platforms with cooler weather and a busy school year, I hope that I can watch my doors of opportunity clatter open, take a deep breath, and in my best imitation of a refined British accent remind myself to "mind the gap".