On becoming a new person.
It’s that time of the year again when we are flooded with New Year’s Resolutions and all the changes we can make to become “new” and “improved,” like we’re all just some inanimate object being updated for the 15th time.
Society (and businesses/companies) pushes onto us that change is this grand thing and that each new year we need to change some facet of ourselves. While it might be good and it might be right and worthwhile sometimes, I find that it adds too much pressure other times.
That’s why I’ve resolved to tell myself that if I change, I won’t change to become someone new. I won’t try to reinvent myself and I won’t change to try to alter a part of me that I’ve been fooling myself into thinking I needed to change. I’ve spent the past year growing in unexpected ways, I’ve spent it surviving and breaking through mental cages and I don’t need the extra pressure of resolving to doing something new and different.
If I change, it’ll be to get closer to my true, authentic being. I’ll change to grow closer to me, unlocking areas of my soul and encouraging the ones already present to keep it up, or abandon it altogether if need be.
I’m taking the pressure off being a “new” person. If you’re like me, you’ve been on all kinds of social media platforms over the last few days and you’ve seen countless end-of-year recaps, reels, TikToks, and photo collages. While I enjoy them and I love seeing what the people in my life have been up to, it can be tough sometimes. Especially if you’ve had a rough year. It can be difficult to overcome the frustration and sadness that comes with seeing others absolutely living and posting about all the friends they have and events they went to and trips they took. I know I felt that for sure.
That’s also why I think the pressure that we feel to become a new person and accomplish thing after thing once a new year starts is simply doing too much. Sometimes, just getting by and surviving is enough. If that’s all you did, and that’s all you do again this year, that is enough. You are enough.
Instead, aim to become more yourself. Whatever that may be. Can that also be something new? Yeah, but it takes the pressure off feeling like reinvention and getting that new gym membership or subscription plan is the way to go about being ‘new.’ It takes the pressure off feeling like you need to take major leaps and make major changes to your life. If you aim to become more yourself, you become more authentic, happier, genuine, and contented. You can define what that means for you. You can still experience a wonderful year at the end of it all and reflect knowing that you are closer to yourself in more ways than before.
I hope each and every one of you have a phenomenal, better year than this past one. Whether you set obscure or concrete resolutions or none at all, I wish you all the best health, success, and happiness in all that you do.
If you would like to read any more from me, check out these articles below! Thank you so much for all of the time you’ve spent here.
