Happy New Beginnings! Happy New Year!
I am excited for this year! What about you? Like everything new – new car, new baby, new house, new job, new shoes – everything new is usually exciting. And… scary at the same time for some new ventures: like immigration, a new role or business, and well maybe, 2021. There are so many expectations lined up for 2021 – exciting!
Over the weekend, I was at the one place where we can still see people face to face and not through a screen, and I had decided I would be smiling at people in the stores even if they looked at me weirdly. As I waited at the long checkout line – note to self, avoid grocery shopping on weekends – I took the pleasure of checking out carts. Yes, shopping carts of people on the line. Just like mine, many carts had lots of healthy stuff in them and I was beginning to think to myself how nice it is that we are eating healthy and I remembered: it’s the new year’s resolutions! Do you make any of those?
New Beginnings
Don’t you just love a blank, clean canvas? It’s like you are back to those pre-school and kindergarten days. Not to worry if you find it intimidating at first, once you start playing on it and throwing all kinds of dreams on it, it becomes more exciting. Once done, you can hang it in a visible place and whenever you step into the room where it’s hanging, you either read what’s already on it and get some inspiration, be grateful or you add something new – you throw in a new vibrant color here and there. Some call this a vision board or an inspiration board.
This canvas is the new year, new month, new week, new day – new beginnings. It’s the grace to start afresh in your personal life. Starting afresh is like immigrating to a new country or migrating to a new city. You do not become a new person but you are new. It’s the same old you but you are transformed. Every new beginning is a transformational process. You do not seek incremental change when starting afresh, you get transformed. However, this does not happen automatically. To achieve real transformation, you have to start with clear intentions.
I get excited about new beginnings because I’d love to see the end. I know the end is going to be different in a good way though, I may not know exactly what the final product may look like. I love to enjoy the journey. The end may be just as I envisioned it or it could be more or pleasantly different. To get to this end, however, you need to take a few steps.
Steps to a new beginning
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
Lamentations 3:22-23 English Standard Version
In Lamentations, we read that the Creator’s mercies are new every morning. I don’t know about you but this always puts me in a better mood. I may have made some silly mistakes yesterday or even some expensive mistake, but I know that every new day is a new opportunity to do better. While there might be consequences for things done in the past, I choose to learn from the experience and put my best foot forward the next day, month, or year. Doing this, I most likely will be more successful and ultimately better. I am better because I am transformed and changed forever by that experience.
#1 Start with a clean slate – You always begin a journey from, well, wherever you currently are. To make sure you are not dragging anything from the past that doesn’t work for you, into the new journey, it’s important to sit down and reflect on the past day, month, year, vacation, etc. Yes, old things are gone and we are looking to new things. Unless however, we have an ending, a beginning will be off to a flawed start.
Once, when I got a new boss at work ( this new beginning was imposed on me – there are some new beginnings that we just find ourselves in and we must recognize them as such. While there are others that we anticipate and know are coming). I worked on having a great relationship with the new boss, however, in my mind, I was not done with the former boss.
I was constantly thinking of the projects I had mapped out to do with the former boss which was no longer going to happen. Though I imagined this was not a big deal, not having that closure after my boss suddenly left was impacting the way I worked with the new boss. It was not until I sat down, reflected, and let go, that I could truly move forward in the new relationship.
Are you hung up on anything that may be holding you back to embrace the new year? It may be time to let go so you can embrace the newness. Someone once told me that when I am holding onto something tightly, my hands are not free or open to receiving a new opportunity.
#2 Dream – Have you tried to dream lately? Some adults have stopped dreaming. We just get into the motion of doing the same things over and over again. To dream is fun. Dreaming big is even more exciting! Dreaming is simply to desire something new for your life. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. In Psalm 37:4, there’s a promise and it says, “Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.”
Here’s what happens when you dream big:
- You are open to opportunities.
- You find ways to navigate and negotiate challenges.
- You conquer limiting beliefs.
- You get transformational results.
If you have not dreamt in a while, give it a try this new year. What do you have to loose? Instead, there’s lots to gain. So close your eyes and dream. It’s really fun. Don’t forget to grab a piece of paper and pen and write out your dream once you open your eyes.
#3 Set your intention – Imagine setting out on a journey with no clue as to what you are going to do when you get to your destination (that is if you do get to your destination maybe). Chances are you know in some general sense, where you want to go (I hope you do, at least in a very general sense). Now, imagine if you don’t have a plan as to what you will do when you get to any important point in your journey, how things may unfold. You could actually miss those important points of interest or get lost.
It will be challenging to set out to a new place with zero plans. Let’s take a new day for example. If you have been gifted a new day by the mere fact that you did wake up, then what? Yes, you will eat, spend time on social media (maybe a lot), watch TV, go to work, etc. But really, how do you make this new day a fresh start? Think of that clean canvas. What would you put on your canvas?
Without having a clear intention for a new beginning, there will be no transformation. This does not have to be grand intentions like changing the world single-handedly. Start with small intentions. It is little drops that make a mighty ocean. When you have an undiscovered leak in the pipe of your kitchen sink, the tiny drops of water dripping out of the pipe don’t get your attention till the day you discover some puddle on your kitchen floor on waking up. Setting an intention will greatly enhance your experience with your new beginning.
#4 Action time – While we may not know the future. new beginnings are a gift. It launches you into a new journey with lots of promises. Simply step out and leave the old behind and look ahead with hope to the exciting future ahead while celebrating the present moment. To move, you need to take a step, you have to move your foot one at a time. Whatever dreams you have for the new year, you will succeed by putting one foot out at a time every day.
Simply resolving to do things differently or embrace something new will not deliver results. By throwing those dreams on a “canvas” – whether you write it down in a journal, use sticky notes in prominent places around you or use a vision board, you will be more successful in having a transformational change this year. As humans, we think in images so a visual representation as opposed to a thought in your head is more powerful. To take it up a notch higher, find accountability either by saying out your desires to a trusted person, in a group chat or doing a challenge.
I wish you the best this year. I will be back with more on new beginnings in next week’s blog.
As always, feel free to share your thoughts on new beginnings in the comments.
Thank you for reading.
Blessings.
