Embracing Change: A Year of Self-Discovery

This year has been a season of growth and change. This season in many different areas of my life has felt like falling apart. Junior year has been one of the most stressful school years so far for me. As I begin to plan for the next stage of my life, it has been overwhelming, SATs, college tours, grades, health issues, the list continues.

My 2024 word of the year is self. I was reminded of my word of the year to recenter my thinking as all of this goes on. This year's goals revolve around focusing more on myself and my happiness. This has meant being strong in my boundary setting, being okay with saying goodbye to relationships that no longer serve me and keeping my circle small.

As I have done this it has felt like my whole world has fallen apart in many ways, but it was all for the greater good. As I transition, I have been reminded of this quote throughout the past several months. "Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened."As I have closed many chapters of my life there has been some sadness but I know it is for the best in the long run. I have learned to remember the good times and be thankful I got to experience those things and relationships. With extra time for myself, I now have a clear plan for reaching my goals.

I encourage you to take the time to do some deep self-exploration and figure out what is keeping you from achieving all that you want to achieve. At times it can feel easy to be tricked into thinking you haven’t made any progress in your journey. Simply starting that is progress. It takes a lot of dedication to take a dream and know that it can be more than just a dream. Take pride in how far you’ve come while striving for the best version of yourself.

What is keeping you from being happy? This one can be hard for some to hear but you are in charge of your happiness. Once I learned that I have control over my happiness I started doing the things I knew I needed to do to keep my peace and happiness. This could be setting work/ home life boundaries. Or scheduling rest days, taking time off doesn’t make you lazy. Or surround yourself with people who bring out the best in you. 

Are there some people in your life who no longer serve and hold you back from your potential? One of the most influential people in my life taught me that you become the 4 people you spend the most time with. If you surround yourself with 4 hardworking, positive individuals you will become the 5th if you surround yourself with 4 negative, lazy, people you will become the 5th.