As the clock approaches the countdown to a close on one year and the beginning of another it’s easy to be swept along in the flurry of people planning and plotting to make this the best year yet ever. Along with the Facebook posts at 4pm to make sure their update doesn’t go AWOL or “not get through” in the craziness of midnight celebrations a variety of “new year, new me” status’ have been posted along with lists as long as ET’s arm of resolutions to keep ones bad habits in check.
There’s a girl on my Facebook who every couple of months takes it upon herself to write a shakespearen length monologue on her status to put the world to rights, to partly wallow in self pity and then declare that “starting tomorrow, no more Miss Nice Girl” – she posts a few positive Tumblr quotes, further updates to say she’s having a friends list clear up and changes her profile picture like she’s a woman on a mission. Two months lately following her latest relationship breakdown and a number of status’ where she’s beefing at her timeline about how she doesn’t need anyone else in her life to make her happy, she’s back to the “new me starting Monday!”
In line with my predictions for her latest update, she was the first person to break out the “new year, new me” status long before the stroke of midnight on the 31st of December and I couldn’t help but roll my eyes. Not just because of the predictability of her status but also because of this incessant need to constantly start over and the requirement to continually begin again. If life is meant to be a journey then the annual “new year, new me” theory is the equivalent of stopping your car at every junction and and reversing back to the same starting point over and over again because you didn’t like the way the car drove or you didn’t like the sights along the way or the song that was on the radio.
As people we are meant to evolve, this theory was pioneered my Mr Charles Darwin, but in regards to life and experiences I’m a firm believer in that the obstacles and struggles we face in life are fundamental in order to build character and equip us with the tools we need in order to deal with life and offer empathy and understanding of other peoples plights.
I don’t believe in starting over or having regrets. “New Year, New Me” is a way of basically saying “you know me? Well I’m rubbish and I need to start over completely” which unless you’re a cold blooded killer on death row or you’ve been sacrificing puppies simply isn’t true. We all have aspects of our personality that we need to work on, for example I need to be more organised and less awesome, but I wouldn’t say that it would suffice me starting over. How about “New Year, Improved Me”? Having no regrets is all that anyone really wants, to be able to look back on life and say “I don’t regret doing/not doing” but what sort of plain sailing life would that be? Some of the biggest balls ups I’ve made or bad decisions have lead me to where I am today – had I not gone on awful dates or been through break ups or spent time by myself I wouldn’t be writing this blog post which will eventually be read by my faithful friends and readers (or yknow, my mum).
Back to the “life being a journey” analogy: new year, new me is the equivalent of hoping that upgrading the car you’re driving at every pot hole will affect the outcome of your journey. Truth is, whether you’re setting out in a Ford, a Lambourghini or an ice cream truck, you’ll still come up against the same pot holes and traffic lights, it’s upto you to navigate your own journey in the car you’re already in. Get an MOT or a tyre change, hell, take your booty on over to XZibit at Pimp my Ride.
I hope you’ll join me in 2015 to be accepting of yourself and your 2014, to identify the bad parts and give it the finger, but then to identify how those life events helped to shape you as a person. Despite 2014 having one up on 2013 in terms of love, friendships and a career path (I start a new job in January) I meet the New Year with the same determination and openness as I did the last.
With love and well wishes for the year ahead – go out and make it your bitch!
Charl
(The old me and slightly improved me).
Love this post!!! I love the way you compared it all to the car, makes it a lot easier to understand the things I might not have seen before. I totally agree with what you’ve said. I dont regret any of my mistakes as they turn into lessons that I note for next time round x
Outstanding post! Happy New Year x
I love this post, I know these updates well. I prefer to think of myself as getting an upgrade each year, a bit like software. I’m still basically me, just hopefully with a few improvements and bug fixes! Laura v3.3 xo
http://www.lovedbylaura.com
Love this! And so so true. I love thinking of things to do that will help improve me and my lifestyle, but I wouldn’t want to sacrifice the good things about me for that either! Definitely one to think about :)
PS LOVE the new design!! xx
Little Miss Katy | UK Lifestyle Blog
Could not have said it better myself, have no regrets just lessons. xox
http://www.rainbowsandunicornsblog.co.uk/