It’s not even the end of 2021 and already I’m seeing ‘new year, new me’ posts, as if like magic, on January 1^st – *poof* – the old you will disappear and the new one will take its place. But high key, that’s not how it works.

Change, despite what social media will have you believe, is a gradual process that many of us do not like however, very much need.

Instead, we like things how they are. We’re comfortable in familiar spaces, with the same faces we’ve known for years. We are stubbornly engrained in our behaviours, resist contrasting opinions and often cling to environments that no longer serve us: unsatisfying job roles, unhealthy relationships or mind-sets, all in the name of ease and comfort.

That is, until the day that we become so uncomfortable in the space that we’re in – i.e. we become unhappy, our environment becomes toxic, or worse yet, we ourselves do – that we begin to crave it; change. But not the journey, just the outcome.

Cue January 1^st – *poof*

That was kind of me once upon a time. Though I didn’t expect things in my life to just improve on their own, I did wait for discomfort to be the thing that pushed me.

Towards the end of 2020, in the run up to my November birthday, I was in a rut. I was frustrated with where I was in my life, feeling stalled by the pandemic and struggling to shrug off the millennial ‘countdown to 30’ pressure. I was uncomfortable.

I knew that if I wanted to move from the space that I was in, something needed to give and it needed to happen now. And so, as I prepared to turn another year older, I decided that the coming year – which would include 11 months of 2021 – would be the year of change. That meant welcoming and not resisting the winds of change whenever they appeared – something, I note, is a lot easier said than done.

No one likes change, myself back then included.

Embracing the year has meant not holding onto things, people or situations for longer than I was meant to, no matter how much I wanted to. It’s meant closing the door, even when I wasn’t sure there was another one or when it would open. It’s meant acknowledging when I was wrong and truly deeping my life lessons.

And it’s meant opening myself up to new experiences, whether I felt ready to or not. Though funnily enough, despite my doubts, I’ve often found that I was a lot more prepared and equip for the ‘change’ than I thought I was. As is often the case with us all.

Trust and believe that you, as you are right now, are a lot more ready than you think you are for whatever it is that you’re putting off; be it a career change, a new relationship or the ending of an old one. You’ve never been more ready than you are now and it is fear that tells you otherwise. So, if you’ve been looking for a sign, here it is. Take a leap. After all, there is much growth to be experienced outside your comfort zone.

Don’t wait for stagnation or discomfort to propel you or for a new year to become a ‘new you’. It’s so cliché and it’s also incorrect. Because change is not instant and the call to adapt and evolve presents itself in many forms throughout the year: new job opportunities, challenging political discussions, a global pandemic, sensations of boredom, fear or settling – all indicators that it may just be time for you to revaluate yourself and your surroundings.

As I went about the year looking out for signs and sublet nudges from the universe, I welcomed change in many forms: how I thought, how I behaved, in my job, in my friendships and my romantic relationships.

Admittedly, the greatest transformation has been internal. My introspective journey has been difficult, taxing at times and low key quite radical. But nonetheless, a blessing. This past year, I have felt myself grow through my willingness to change and that has ultimately resulted in not a new me, but a better me.

No one likes change, but it can be good for us if we let it. And I encourage you to do just that, because you never know what new experiences and lessons are waiting for you round the corner.

And so, as we countdown to Christmas and approach the end of 2021, I leave you with this, my final thought: if covid can be out here screaming ‘new year, stronger variant’, so can you! Be your best selves people. Omicron who?!

And on that note, stay safe friend, have a Merry Christmas and I’ll see you in the new year.

Oh, and always remember, your truth is the tea, so spill it! *Sips Tea*

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