The Crazy Zone

Coming home from a mission can be a disorienting time – that’s because you’re certainly not the same person who left.

Words like weird, unsettled, strange, challenging, and hard come up in nearly every conversation I have with returned missionaries.

And after 200+ coaching conversations in recent months, I can say one thing for sure, you’re just in the neutral zone.

In my experiences, there is nothing so unchanging, so inevitable as change itself.

Yet, we can confuse change with transition. Change is external – it’s coming home, starting school, getting a job, seeing family and friends. Transition is internal. It’s what your mind and heart go through as you adjust to the new reality.

One of the best frameworks I use in coaching is William Bridges’ Transition Model, which breaks transition into three stages:

1. 𝐄𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 – Letting go of what was.

2. 𝐍𝐞𝐮𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐙𝐨𝐧𝐞 – The in-between, uncertain, disoriented time.

3. 𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐁𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 – When the new identity and rhythm take shape.

In many recent conversations, I’ve found a few returned missionaries stuck in the neutral zone, oftentimes called the crazy zone.

You don’t feel fully part of your mission anymore, but you’re not fully settled back into life at home either.

Remember, “It must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things.” – 2 Nephi 2:11

It’s a strange in-between space where routines are missing, identity feels unclear, and emotions can be all over the place.

At times, this zone can apply to each of us, and it isn’t failure, rather it’s new growth!

This is the real path of transformation and sometimes it will feel up hill, slow, or like you’re even going backward.

Life can be like a series of hills and valleys, and yet I know that the best growth often comes in the valleys.

It’s important to hold on to your anchor habits that grounded you during your mission:

• 𝐏𝐫𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐫 – You still have your direct line to the Lord, so use it.

• 𝐒𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐩𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐲 – Insights will often come in small, daily doses.

• 𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞 – Shifting focus from yourself to others will help

• 𝐆𝐨𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 – You can still set inspired goals.

You don’t need to live your daily mission schedule – but you can continue your routines.

Yes, there is pain in the transition period, but it will not last forever – patience, love, and long-suffering are needed.

What small habit is helping you stay anchored right now?