New Year... Same me?

What does the new year hold for you? Is it going to be your best yet? Are you going to be a better you or are you going to make it the year of same you but a loved you?

As the new year is fast approaching we are faced with the pressure of new year's resolutions and being a 'better me' in all areas of life. Whether the pressure we face is to get better grades, to be fitter, to be more proactive or to be more social; we are bombarded with this idea that we have to be so much more than we already are. Now, it can be great to set goals and set resolutions for a happier and healthier life but what about rather than changing to be 'different' to be better, we learn to accept and love who we are now?

This year we have seen a huge movement in self-love and self-care. It is a huge step for society to be pushing the idea of loving you rather than the need to change. We can attempt to change lots of things about us but the only way to be happy is to learn to accept you as you are and work on things in positive ways. I myself have been guilty of pressuring myself to be better and different. I have suffered with anxiety most of my life; especially social situations and the unfamiliar. I would challenge myself to be different, not liking the fact I found it so hard to do new things or meet new people in different settings. The whole year ... nothing changed, I just beat myself up about not being like other people, a better version of myself. I still am guilty of this but I have been learning that the more I accept myself, the better I get in those situations.

Now, this is not a miracle fix to my anxiety or anyone else's but I am saying this because I want people to stop beating themselves up. We don't need to be better people or different to love ourselves. I am learning continually how to love that my awkwardness and anxiety makes me unique and the more I do that, the less I am mean to myself. That loving myself makes me happier... and I can still do this to push myself and better my mental health without making it a punishing regime to be different.

Everything we set goals for when it comes to changing ourselves at someway should begin from a place of loving yourself. If you want to lose weight, do it because you love yourself and want to be healthy not just slimmer. if you want to be more social, do it because you enjoy people and want to work on your anxiety... not to be someone you're not but to find it easier etc. This year, we don't need to be 'new people' or 'better people', we just need to love ourselves.

Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart....

Jeremiah 1:5 (NIV)

Jesus loves you so much, he knew you before you were even born and he wanted you. Let that sink in. We don't need to be perfect or better or different to love ourselves. God loves you always and no matter what. Be you, love you, be kind to yourself.

Love,

Becky x