There’s a saying that nothing in life is constant except change. This is because change is a normal part of life. But changes can also be scary. Transitions are challenging, whether they’re positive or negative, planned or unexpected. But instead of viewing transitions as fearful upheavals that threaten you, try seeing them as opportunities to learn more about yourself and a path to new growth.

In her book Thresholds: How to Thrive Through Life’s Transitions to Live Fearlessly and Regret-Free, Rabbi Sherre Hirsch likens transitions to crossing a threshold into something new and different. “When I talk about the thresholds of our lives, I am referring to those moments when we are in transition,” she says. “Those moments when we are standing between the way we were accustomed to living and a new way of thinking, feeling and being.”