By now you’ve probably met a few people who have undergone gender transition (like Eli’s from being assigned female at birth to being perceived as a man in most of society), and perhaps you even associate the word “transition” with that experience. Maybe you don’t. In reality, each and every one of us transitions, from the moment we’re born until the moment we die. Transition is just another change, and change is the only part of life guaranteed to each of us. Tomorrow won’t necessarily look like today, and there’s something both liberating and terrifying about that.

We transition when we graduate from school and move on to the next chapter, whether that’s another school or life outside of school.

We transition when we come into our sexuality, whatever that looks like for us.

We transition when we begin a relationship, end a relationship, open a relationship, set new boundaries in a relationship, and within any infinite number of relationship changes and permutations.

We transition when a loved one dies, or moves away, or gets sober, or falls into addiction. We transition when a loved one is born into our family or the family of a friend. Sometimes these new things bring us grief, sometimes joy, and sometimes a confusing mix of the two.

We transition with each milestone reached by ourselves, our child or children, friends in our lives, or our wider community.

We transition with each career change, with each time we speak up to our employer or landlord, with each boundary we set, with each hobby we pick up, and with the things we walk away from.

We transition because life presents us with opportunities to become more and more ourselves each and every day, and the only other alternative is stasis; and often, for many of us, that “stuck” feeling really doesn’t feel so good.

The reality is that transition is woven into every part of our lives.

Yes, everyone transitions. Even–and especially–you.