New Year, New Me?
- Anonymous Soul39
- Jan 9, 2021
- 2 min read
I used to use, and like the notion of ‘new year, new me’, but quite frankly it is quite a negative term in my view. The reason I view it in a negative light is because, it seems to portray that the old self is a failure, you have not grown, there is nothing to celebrate about yourself, and nothing to take from the previous year into the new year.
Yes, 2020 was quite an unwelcoming surprise. It was a testing year and a year of trying to not lose yourself in the midst of madness but, in the words of Aliyah, ‘dust yourself of, and try again’, is how I can describe 2020 for myself and most likely many, and its words I am taking into this year.
Online learning in my final year of my degree was a blessing and curse but I persevered and have obtained my degree. I had anger in my heart for half the year because I was not able to obtain a job and what I took from processing those emotions I had, is no one owes you anything and you can only control yourself. So, with it now being a new year, 2021, I wish to take the above lessons I learned in 2020 and carry them over into this new year.
I will use an analogy of a snake shedding its skin. When a snake sheds it skin, it is shedding because its body is growing out of its old skin (snakes’ skin does not grow, only the body). The shedding reveals its growth and it also removes harmful parasites.
We should rather shed the past mistakes, past failures, past relationships that served us no purpose, etc. while still recognizing that the old comes with personal growth. Personal growth is a give and take of the old and the new which has resulted in you who you are today, so do not disregard the old and try to do a 360, rather add the good to your old self and naturally you will shed of the old little by little as you grow.
Remove this attitude of ‘new year, new me’, and rather choose to acknowledge the lessons learned from 2020, add those lessons to yourself and you will grow. OH and do not forget to pat yourself on the back for trying your best in 2020.
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Thank you so much for the comment. You elaborated further and I love the qoute "life is a series of lesson". First time hearing the qoute🙏😊
Yeah, I agree. I’ve also never been a fan of the phrase and kdala ngaphuma kuyona. It has such negative connotations and implies that everything you’ve done in previous years becomes obsolete. I think it also adds unnecessary (self-imposed) pressure on people to feel like they can and should miraculously change over a short period of time and achieve all these goals that they’ve set and then end up feeling like failures when those things don’t happen. Like you mentioned, it’s important and probably easier to use what’s already at your disposal, the lessons and mistakes from previous years, to improve yourself and grow. Like abelungu besho “ life is a series of lessons”. Okwakho is to take those lessons…