Hi everyone! It has been a while since I last wrote to you. Since the beginning of 2024, it’s been crazy. If I had one word to describe 2024 so far, it’s change. At the beginning of January, I started a new job which has been a positive change. Because of it, I’m able to see family and friends, travel, become involved in my community and do personal retreats where I can rejuvenate, write, and spend time with God out in nature. I’m also training to be a volunteer with Victim Services in Kingston where we help those who suffer from crime, tragic circumstances, and disaster. I’m looking forward to becoming involved and getting to know my city on a new level. There are other changes happening in my personal life that I’m learning to adapt to.
For those who know me, I struggle with change. It takes time for my mind to wrap around any changes. When it comes to change, there is a lot of fear and anxiety. A lot of it deals with the fear of the unknown, fear of loneliness, and doubt if this will be a good change. My ingrained mindset is that change is always a bad thing due to past circumstances. God has taken me on a journey of teaching me that change can be a good thing. If we are constantly doing the same routine over and over again, we are not learning and growing. We get stuck in a rut. Change causes us to grow if we let it. Even though, I am grieving what was, I am learning what it means to embrace change.
Did you know that embrace means to take or receive gladly or eagerly; to accept willingly? I had no idea that was what embrace meant until an author/speaker I follow mentioned it in one of her e-mails last week. It is the dictionary’s definition of embrace. It makes me wonder am I embracing change? In some situations, yes, and in most situations, I am fighting it every single step of the way like a stubborn horse or mule. I’m slowly undoing the fears that it will be a repeat of the past. That type of thinking only goes down a path of fear and depression. I’m learning not all situations will have the same outcome every time. I am learning to switch my mindset and ask questions such as what new opportunities are coming? What type of people will I meet? What new friendships/connections will I make? How am I going to learn and grow? I am learning to see change as an opportunity for growth and to welcome whatever change God brings on my path. I am also learning to give myself grace as I’m learning a new mindset. It takes time to formulate new neural pathways in our minds as we learn a new behaviour/mindset.
How do you see change? If you had one word to describe your year so far, what would it be?
P.S. I’ll provide you with a writing update soon. I just read a great book on writing by J.D. Edwin and I’m looking forward to implementing her techniques that she discovered in learning how to write your first draft in six weeks and how to have a consistent schedule for writing. In the writing update, I’ll share the progress that has been made on writing projects, books I’ve read, new writing ideas, and my journey this year so far as a writer.