Let 2018 Be The Change You Need

girl with a hat and a waterfall
Allef Vinicius

This year had been heartbreaking for you. Right now, the allure of a fresh start is lost to you. The promises of starting over are illusory.

You’re weary and you cannot wait for this year to come to an end. Yet you aren’t hopeful for 2018 due to many reasons. You’re afraid that you would be stuck in the same recurring story that you’re powerless to change. You’re pessimistic that you don’t deserve the love and happiness you’re still searching for. You’re cynical that good things can happen to you because you’re convinced that good things that happen to you won’t last.

But it doesn’t always have to be this way.

You can let 2018 be the catalyst for change, the change that transforms your life radically and gives you what you need.

Tell yourself that a new year signifies a chance to begin anew. See it as a blank canvas for you to start somewhere rather than thinking that the future is fixed and unchanging. Push yourself to adopt the bravery to take the first step and draw out the lines and strokes on the blank canvas instead of waiting for the stars to align and the timing to be perfect.

Because perfection doesn’t exist. We have to create our own opportunities. And sometimes, that may mean taking a risk before we’re ready. Sometimes, there is no waiting but simply just doing. It is having to take a leap of faith feeling frightened in every sense of the word, yet doing it anyway, because you honestly believe in what you’re doing.

That is not to say that the New Year comes without its challenges.

There’ll be challenging times and moments that either make or break you. There’ll be tears of frustration and when you’re on the verge of calling it quit. There’ll be changes so terrifying that you’re frozen in fear and paralysis. There’ll be disappointment and inevitable losses that leave you reeling from your pain.

But let there be more wins than losses. More connection builds than broken. More love that you give and receive freely than any animosity. More healing and redemption than resentment and bitterness. More clarity and serenity than anxiety and worry.

Let 2018 be the year you start becoming the change you need in your life.

You can’t control what happens but you can definitely choose how to react to it. When faced with difficult decision and the hard truth, you hold your chin up high and face your obstacles squarely in the eyes instead of running away. When faced with heartbreaking losses and disappointing defeat, you use hope and faith to counteract them and emerge stronger than before. When faced with the option of staying in your comfort zone, you choose to take the risky road knowing that you’re fulfilling your calling and living with no regret.

Let 2018 be the year that takes you by surprise. Give it your best shot, and it won’t let you down. Give it all the love that you muster, and it will reward you back with the same intensity. Give yourself to it freely, and you’ll slowly love the person that you eventually become.

Embrace all the surprising twist and turn because you know, 2018 will be nothing short of rewarding. Thought Catalog Logo Mark

I write about falling in love and out of love.

Keep up with Liane on Instagram and medium.com

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