Before any new beginning comes a last goodbye. As this old year closes out, I am overwhelmed by the amount of change that has taken place within it. Most years slip by with a few minor changes. They almost meld together in my memory because of their consistency.
This last year has truly been an exception with many major changes. It has marked itself boldly apart from the comfortable constancy of years before.
We made the terrifying decision to move fifteen hundred miles away. This meant saying a lot of goodbyes.
We bid farewell to the only home our children can remember, all of the familiar places and faces we knew, and even the recognizable geographical features and weather of the region.
We changed jobs and schools.
We even changed the standard flip-flops and garage full of beach equipment for thermal underwear and a snow plow.
There have been so many good-byes and changes within the span of one year.
Change is a funny thing.
While we say that familiarity breeds contempt, change breeds sentiment and anxiety. It conjures up sentiment for everything that you ever overlooked, undervalued, or didn’t take enough time to enjoy. It produces anxiety over the loss all of the things you’ve come to know as comfort and expect in home.
Over the past few days I have found myself thinking a lot about the endings of things as this year closes. I have been wrapped up in nostalgic longing for the comforts of habits not yet formed in all of this newness. It is easy to spend my thoughts focused on all of the last good-byes, but if I allow myself to dwell on the endings I will be missing the excitement of the new beginning.
New beginnings are exciting.
It means discovering all kinds of new things to enjoy and love.
It means fresh starts.
It means you get the chance to be whoever you want to be. There are no preconceived notions held by people or yourself that can hold you back in a new place. You want to be a better person? You totally can be better without anyone doubting you. All of the things that you want the new you to be are suddenly much easier to become without the hindrances of bad habits.
With a new start you get to consciously form your new habits.
The idea of newness gives me a thrill of anticipation when I think about it. It makes me enthusiastic about moving forward.
I have to admit, a fifteen hundred mile move definitely makes the process of a fresh start easier, but it’s not the only way.
As we move into this brand new year of 2016, we are all given our own little fresh start if we choose to embrace it. It’s our chance to take a new beginning and form the habits that will help you be best version of yourself, the new you.
In this New Year, you really can be a new you.
You can be the person you always wanted to be. Socrates said that the secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new.
Don’t let the good-byes and changes weigh you down into forgetting the exciting freshness of newness in your life. If like me, you spend all of your time thinking about how it used to be, you’ll miss the chance to move forward into how it might be.
So dream big! Imagine yourself the way you want to be and then forget how you were!
Although dealing with chronic illness issues and rare disease diagnosis’ can absolutely be an all-consuming ordeal, we mustn’t let that stop us from being the very best person we can be. We can’t let it hold us back from exciting new beginnings whether they be small changes in us or big differences in our lives.
We didn’t get to choose the health issues that have turned us into warriors, fighting for our own wellness. The only “say” over the uncontrollable things in this life that we have, is how we respond to them.
Perspective and attitude is everything. It will make or break you as you journey through life with the hand you were dealt. It can make your bad days feel better or your good days feel bad. It’s the only string we have to play, so choose to use it to play beautiful music.
As big as a nearly cross country move was to me, it still doesn’t define who I am. We are not defined by the things we can’t change, such as things that happen to us or our health. We are defined by how we respond to them. We can respond by dwelling on the endings or by looking to new beginnings.
