Spring is often a season of renewal. It signals change and new beginnings, reminding us that fresh starts aren’t limited to one moment on the calendar. But change doesn’t always arrive on our terms — and when it doesn’t, it can feel unsettling, even disruptive.

This spring will be my first without my dad. I’ve experienced loss before, but this one feels different. More personal. More clarifying.

Confronting mortality has a way of sharpening perspective. Time feels more finite, and the things we’ve been forcing — or simply living with out of habit — become harder to justify.

Recognizing that something needs to change doesn’t mean we were doing it wrong. It means the conditions have shifted. What people are often quick to label as failure is, in fact, feedback — information telling us it may be time to adapt.

Transitions frequently come with a sense of loss, especially when change is driven by external circumstances beyond our control. And loss, in any form, is something people grieve. That grief can cloud how we interpret what’s happening, making it easy to see disruption as defeat.

That connection between transition, loss, and grief is something we see often — and it’s the focus of an upcoming MOAA webinar.

I had the profound honor of writing his obituary alongside my four siblings. What a gift it was to reflect on his life — and what a blessing it was to be his daughter.

That experience didn’t just offer closure; it brought clarity. It reminded me how often meaning becomes visible only when we pause long enough to look at our lives from a different angle.

In coaching, I see this pattern again and again. When circumstances change — at work, at home, or in how we see ourselves — it’s tempting to total up the disruption and call it failure.

But just because something no longer fits doesn’t mean it never did. And it doesn’t mean you failed. It may simply mean the season has changed.

When we stop asking “Where did I go wrong?” and start asking “What is this showing me?” we shift from judgment to insight.

So pause. Consider the feedback.

As you move forward through any transition, ask yourself: What does following the feedback look like now?