This has been a year of new beginnings for me. I moved back to central GA, Hubs and I got married, I started The Happy Peach and most recently I have obtained a new career. In a time full of beginnings, it can be rather scary! Everything you know is changing, life can be a whirlwind, and it can be hard to put your feet flat on the ground for a moment just to catch your breath and get your bearings. Something I think we often miss out on is that new beginnings are also exciting! I know I for one can get so caught up in the worries of uncertainty I forget that I’ve made it as far as I have and achieved the goals that I set for myself thus far. New beginnings are a time for joy. They are a gift. A gift that should be dwelled on and appreciated, not worried over and fretted away.

Appreciation of self is something I struggle with. Self-deprecation I think is something a lot of us do, not acknowledging the good in private or public, but rather only focusing on the bad. I think in a season of new beginnings it can be especially rough, as others see the good but only you can see the perceived negative future of self coming over the horizon. Take a moment to value the goals you have achieved to get to the place that you are at. Negativity aside, you are alive. You are reading this article. You can read. It can be so much worse. Value your goals, make new ones. Thrive.

So today I smiled. In the midst of wrapping up my current position at my old job to get ready for the new one I grinned. I let the chaos drift away for a moment and daydreamed of the joys to come. Of a career filled with purpose and a sense of pride over the hard work I know I will put in right around the corner. I dreamed of the future with a sense of presence and encouragement that I have not felt in a long time. A new beginning. A breath of fresh air. A magic moment.

I think most of us think of new beginnings as something similar to a New Year’s resolution. It is something that is new and perfect, and needs to stay that way. How often do we quit new things or not give our best effort as soon as they are somehow damaged, or redeemed of their “perfectness?” The weight loss goal you didn’t keep because you swore you would work out every day and the first day you didn’t you just threw in the towel. Or that one year you swore to write twice a week to increase your writing portfolio and only made it a month before you broke your schedule. What about when you’re at that new job and you make your first big mistake and don’t know where to go or who to ask to correct it.

While new beginnings are wonderful and we see them with rose colored glasses at the start, we will mess it up… to a certain degree. What I mean by that is every new opportunity will at some point become an old memory along the way. You will mess up, we all do. But learn from your mistakes and never hesitate to keep going even when you fail. Those mess ups lead to brilliant things. I will eventually accidently break the copier at work because a curse was placed on me by my elementary school desktop that haunts me till this day. I will explain my technology taboo, they will look at me like I’m probably insane, and we will move forward. The new will not always be new, but every obstacle is an important part of the overall journey.

In this season of new beginnings, appreciate the moment, value the goals you achieved in getting there, and accept the mistakes you will make with an air of understanding. This is a glorious time, a time to be treasured, and hard work to be done. We don’t have all the answers, and you know what? We don’t need them. They will come with time. For now, enjoy the start of something new. I know I will.