Ongrowing - New beginnings

Why we don't have to wait for a new year to start fresh

Ongrowing’s January 2nd letter | Previous issue: Walking away

🎉 🎈 🎊 Happy new year all! 🎉 🎈 🎊

I hope you all were able to take a break to rest, recharge, spend time with your loved ones, and celebrate your accomplishments in the last year (yes, surviving the pandemic definitely counts). In Thailand, countdown celebrations were quite limited as we are being cautious in dealing with the rising cases. My family and I retreated to the Northern part of Thailand in Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai and enjoyed the sceneries as well as a slower pace of life. We visited several mountains, temples, and farmers’ markets as pictured below.

Clockwise from top left: a cafe at Baan Kang Wat farmers’ market, nestled in the mountains in Hang Dong, a traditional Northern noodle dish called Khao Soi, and Wat Pra Singh (temple) in the city of Chiang Mai

During this time, I got really present to how I attach my worth to my productivity. Many times, I was itching to go back to work and/or do something productive. Being present was a challenge. The urge to scroll Instagram and social media arose every time I felt this itch. I would check my emails and feel disappointed when there was nothing new. A reminder for me to work on developing a better relationship with the digital world. Let me know if you have any tips!

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Today’s Story

On New Year’s Eve, my brothers and I were chatting and reflecting on our 2021. We went around in a circle, and shared our highlights from the past year, the lessons we learned, and what we were looking forward to in 2022.

My youngest brother, Fame, mentioned that he was really looking forward to being done with his current exams, and starting his new courses in August. He wanted to start fresh and was excited to enter this new chapter where he’d get to choose new subjects, ditch the school uniform, and apply to colleges. I felt refreshed hearing how enthusiastic he sounded. Before I was able to share what I was looking forward to, my other brother, Fresh, interrupted.

“I think that’s great, but I just wanted to remind you that you don’t have to wait until your new courses start to be motivated and work hard. Next Monday is a new semester. You can choose to be someone new anytime, heck, you can do that now!”

“Every sunrise gives you a new beginning and a new ending. Let this morning be a new beginning to a better relationship and a new ending to the bad memories. It's an opportunity to enjoy life, breathe freely, think and love. Be grateful for this beautiful day.”

That stuck with me. The New Year time tends to inspire people to change and grow. We set goals and resolutions, often to motivate ourselves to do better than last year. It’s convenient and timely to calibrate our journeys with the earth’s rotation around the sun, to start from “scratch” with every new year. However, Fresh’s schpiel reminded me that we don’t have to rely on the new year to reinvent ourselves. I, many times, forget that we have the ability to start anew whenever we wish to. Every day is a brand new canvas for us to work on. Every moment that unfolds is a present full of infinite possibilities.

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The Writing Prompt

How are you feeling about you? What are the dreams and goals you want to pursue? Where are you on that journey? In what ways, if any, do you want to change?

I found it very hard to sit down and reflect on the prompts above. It took me a long time to get present to the answers to these very abstract questions. I’ve been feeling quite apprehensive about the new year, partly because I am still processing the whirlwinds of last year. I didn’t feel as eager and excited, and realized I just needed more time to simply be before jumping into any changes. It’s a huge growth to acknowledge and rest easy in my cocoon when the world is telling everyone to spread your wings.

But as reminder for those who are ready to soar, if a week into the new year, you find yourself disappointed that you’re not on track or not sticking to your resolution, remember that you can start anew at any time. Each restart happens when you choose so. On the contrary, you don’t even have to follow the “new year, new me” concept. Remember that we can certainly be happy and content with our being and who we are at the moment.

Sending you all love and kindness,

Fair