It’s a new year and a lot of us try to embark on new beginning, whether it’s as small as eating better or as deep as loving yourself (or doing things that mean loving yourself) or as life changing as stop smoking and drinking.
New year or not, a new beginning means an end of something you’d much rather be done with and looking forward to greater things. A better change.
We went on out to find what new beginning some of our readers are most proud of, maybe this will help you start your journey.
There are two new beginnings that I’m most proud of;
Going back to school and learning how to swim. I’m most proud of these as they came at a time when the biggest life-changer happened to me – when I became a new mom in 2014.
It’s funny how becoming a parent can put one in a slump where all the focus goes to the baby and nothing else. But for some reason, the arrival of my precious little girl rejuvenated me and spurred me to chase my dreams and love myself like never before – values that I want to install in my daughter from a young age. Loving myself better than before meant letting go of my fears (like drowning) and working hard to get my qualifications in order to make a better life not only for myself but for my family.
I have grown so much in my career since going back to school and it has opened up my world to a whole lot of opportunities. On the other hand, knowing how to swim means that I can in turn teach my child how to swim and I now have gained something that will stay with me for the rest of my life.
Towards the end of November last year;
I decided to embark on a journey of sobriety (not that I’m an excessive drinker, LOL), I called this #SoberDecember. Why? I felt like challenging myself and why not do it during the most drunken time of the year.
Do you ever sit and just wonder: when was the last time I had fun without alcohol?
Nowadays, we define “fun” as anything that involves liquor, thus this challenge. I must admit it was difficult at first ‘cause I was so used to “turning up” with booze but as time progressed I came to the realization that one can have loads of fun without alcohol. Don’t get me wrong I’m not saying I don’t drink any longer; I still enjoy an ice cold sweaty beer on a hot summer’s day from time to time. Plus, because of #SoberDecember January was a breeze.
A few years ago;
I got tired of the way I experienced interpersonal relationships with others. Not just on a romantic front, but with friendships, family, co-workers etc. I didn’t like the fact that I loved individuals conditionally. And a yearning grew within me to love the way God loves us. Without condition. With blemish. With faults. Everything about us is beautiful to Him. And I wanted that.
It was a beautiful beginning because I began to see how people respond to unconditional love. I began to see how I changed. How my personal views of others changed. Embarking on this journey will be a life long one. I have to consciously choose, daily to do things in love. The rewards of doing this are amazing, the more you walk in love the more love comes back to you. It’s like the gift that keeps on giving. It has not and will not always be easy. But the joy I receive from living life this way supersedes the difficulties I may encounter.
Maybe I’m just a hopeless romantic but I believe that love is the antidote that this world needs for almost everything that is wrong with it.
There’s a scripture that reads: “Three things will last forever- faith, hope and love- and the greatest of these is love.”
I read that and its like magic to me. (1Corinthians 13v13)
Jogging, is a hobby I took up seriously last year;
In the dim background of our mind, we know what we ought to be doing but somehow we cannot start. -William James
What new beginning are YOU most proud of? Share with us.
