Shannon's Corner

  If you have a goal to run a marathon there are many steps in the journey to cross the finish line. Learning pace setting is an important key for optimizing performance, conserving energy, and preventing injury as you train for endurance. Training in small increments is another important key for endurance so that when you hit a plateau you can keep on keeping on. It also helps if you have a buddy to run and train with you or a coach to support you and to help you cross the finish line. This concept is important and beneficial as you re-enter in the professional landscape of your passport country.   Industries and markets are evolving rapidly in today’s fast-paced and competitive professional landscape. Professional growth is essential for global workers whether recently returning home or those more seasoned because it ensures you remain competitive, adaptable, and relevant in your home job market. And when you hit those career plateaus you can overcome them to find job satisf...

  SHANNON’S CORNER Happy Easter! In a planning meeting with my colleagues to talk about doing a webinar on transition we talked through the audience, date, and time.  Later, I would give them the webinar summary to advertise it on social media, website, and email list. In order to come up with the title of the webinar and a summary, I kind of had to decide the concepts and content to speak on. When I went to get my paper notes with my information to make the summary, I could not find my notes anywhere and had to start from scratch. As I am learning to trust God in the process this was definitely a process of trust as my training did not get down on paper and in a good flow until 48 hours prior to the training . Embracing Shalom Through Transition When you gaze at this image, what do you notice? What emotions does this image evoke in you? In what ways might you perceive God through this image? Where would you place yourself in this image?    How do you perceive transi...

  The practicality and logistics can be overwhelming and daunting with re-entry. Whether it be getting ready to pack up and leave your host country, arriving to your passport country or you have been a while in your passport country there are many details that need attending. This is where having lists can be helpful even if you are not a list person because with high levels of stress and decreased capacity for decision-making and though processes, lists help to show you what needs to be done.  Lists can become overwhelming so it is important to just do what you can manage for each day. Why are resources and networking valuable? New re-entry arrivals and even into your first couple of years it is valuable to have people resources to help you navigate back into your passport culture. They are people to help teach, explain, and answer your questions about the social norms, nuances, and current pop culture that have changed since living overseas. Your helpers in navigating the va...

  Each time we travel on an airplane the flight attendants will say, “In case of an emergency and the cabin loses pressure, the oxygen masks will come down. First put the oxygen mask on yourself before helping children and other adults.” Even though this is important, how often do we follow this advice or warning for our lives.   In transition our solid footing becomes like sand beneath our feet that always seems to be shifting and it can take a very long time, years even, to feel like our feet are finally on solid ground once again. Why does this happen? Our common stress that we manage daily binds to transitional stress that accompanies us in transition and the two together make the perfect storm. Let’s say our common stress level is around 200, now combine that with transitional stress level of around 600, we have a new stress level of 800 that we are now living with and trying to navigate and manage. Stress affects all areas of our well-being and wholeness. When our stress...