Just a short note, since I’m sitting poolside, surrounded by palm trees, enjoying a little “recharging” time while in San Diego with my family to celebrate my cousin’s wedding. While last week I talked about the beginning of the fall and the clean slate it presents me with it never occurred to me that one week in the future I’d be here to witness the perfect example of it.
This is a second marriage for my cousin; he’s been widowed for a few years now and found a wonderful woman to share the rest of his life with. And it struck me that my cousin, in his fresh start, embodied two traits that I left out of my fresh start conversation: courage and commitment. Because starting anew isn’t just about a different routine or changing habits — there has to be an underlying vein of courage to break from the old and an acknowledgement of fierce commitment to the new. Without those two things, talk is cheap and words on a page do nothing but take up space.
And so while my week-long new minimum habits are going well (I’m still in the honeymoon phase, so to speak), I’m here to publicly remind myself that it won’t always be easy; there are going to be days when even this littlest bit of a habit is going to seem too overwhelming to accomplish. And I’d do well to remember that fresh starts aren’t all unicorns and rainbows and from time to time, I’ll need to scrape up my courage to push back against the draw of the easy way out. After all, what’s a fresh start without the fortitude to honor my commitment to forge a new path?
And with that, congratulations to my cousin and I need to get back to the important business of paying attention to the swaying palm trees.
” Because starting anew isn’t just about a different routine or changing habits …” and yet, changing habits requires the courage and commitment about which you speak! To embrace a new routine feels frightening at times. I am such a creature of the familiar.
I love the idea of something new…when it is once, or twice. But a new routine? Ouch! That is why there is so much courage in that shift. As I ponder what is on the horizon for myself and the shifts in routine required, my knees shake a little. It’s comforting to know there are others changing too, and that the trees continue to stay rooted. 🙂
First, I love that you linked theses two posts because now I feel like I’m on this journey with you. I find myself asking, where can I begin again? And next I am in awe of the courage and commitment duo. I don’t think I’ve given a whole lot of thought lately to the courage it takes to commit. Thank you for the reminder. xxoo
I wholeheartedly agree that change does take courage and commitment. Sometimes we make decisions to change in a blaze of glory, but the stoicism comes in when we Just Keep Going., day after day,week after week, month after month. X
Thanks, Rebecca. The decision is always easy, it’s the follow-through that’s a killer. 🙂
Thanks, Sue Ann … I know the time is coming soon where I’ll need to dig in, so this was just as much a reminder to myself, for sure.
It’s always the “month after month” part that seems to get me, Penny. I need to keep reminding myself to just keep pressing forward. One step at a time.
I feel like I ought to be taking notes, I seem completely incapable of creating a routine in my life. Being a freelancing who has been dancing to my clients’ deadlines for 10 years must take some of the blame, but it is perfectly possible that I’m just not trying hard enough. I suspect I may be a little lacking in courage and conviction… 😉