New Year, New Me

Don't worry, you didn't time warp yourself into January 1st of 2024. Today just so happens to be my birthday, and this new year of life arrived with quite a lot of changes that have inevitably made me reflect upon the next iteration of me to come:

• Yesterday I found out I am celiac , and so now I must have a complete lifestyle change by going 100% gluten free in my diet in order to stop feeling sick and not destroy my body.
• Last month I was impacted by the infamous and ongoing tech layoffs , and so there will (hopefully) soon be a new job in the horizon which will inevitably also prompt new growth avenues for me.
• I have come out of my self-imposed social media hibernation this month through this #OneBlogADayInOctober series, which has launched a new era of openness and vulnerability on a much bigger scale for me.

Two of these changes were unexpectedly sprung upon me, while I made the conscious decision to make the third one. Forced changes are often the hardest to come to terms with, but it's part of rolling with life's punches.

I can't say I had much time to reflect today while I responded to calls and texts from loved ones and spent time with those I was able to in person, but I know that this next month will be mission-critical for me in many ways.

I've always been in awe of how adaptable we are as humans, and I feel like I'm in a Rubik's Cube phase now. I have to move the faces of my cube self and disarray every side in the process to organize the whole. This analogy may not be landing but it's the best way I can describe how I feel. Adapting to one thing at a time is manageable, but doing multiple adaptation cycles simultaneously is a heavy undertaking. Nevertheless, the lack of choice in the matter brings me some solace.

I'm not resolving to make any specific changes other than the ones I already know I have to, but I do want to ground myself in one core principle through this process: being kind to myself. I'm pretty sure I made that my resolution a few years back, but I miserably failed. What's different now is I have lived through a few more experiences and crossed paths with new people who have encouraged me to look at myself through a different lens than the harsh, perfection-seeking one I tend to use on me.

And so with a firm desire to take on these changes in a way that I can have a healthy mind-body sync, I'm going into this new year of life with giving self-kindness a chance at the top of my to-change list.