Are you exactly the same as you were when you were 5?
Or 15?
Or 5 years ago?
While spending time with my grown-up sons yesterday, I felt pangs of grief for the little boys they once were … those chubby-faced, always-hugging, skipping-around-the-lawn toddlers with high-pitched voices aren’t really here anymore. Those little boys are gone in a way. Gone forever.
Yes, I still see glimmers of that sweetness they’ve had since they were born, but of course, they’re stronger and taller than me by a long shot now (admittedly not hard to do since I’m only 5’2″…), they have their own whole lives independent of me, and, well, they don’t exactly ask for hugs every couple of hours like they used to. Those versions of who they once were are no more.
And it really hit me: We are all constantly reinventing ourselves. Partly by fate; our bodies and minds grow and change all the time. But partly by choice.
This reality, that we are always growing up and changing, and we are never the same person year to year in so many ways, is how I know that reinventing yourself is not just possible, but inevitable.
What does this mean for you? Who you were last year doesn’t need to be who you are next year.
The you who you are right now can and will change, either with or without you consciously directing the story.
How do you consciously reinvent yourself?
Just as you changed so much between infancy and toddlerhood, toddlerhood and adolescence, adolescence and adulthood, you can change between now and the new year.
Reinventing yourself is choosing, consciously, who you want to be moving forward.
Reinventing yourself is forgiving yourself, knowing you did the best you could with what you knew and had at the time.
Reinventing yourself is recognizing that every mistake, every misstep, every moment of regret, every disconnected choice you made back there are now lessons if you’re willing to learn them, guiding you more clearly to who you want to be.
Reinventing yourself is listening to yourself and honoring how you feel.
Reinventing yourself is noticing the small nudges toward what brings you true joy and ease.
The person you want to become is already waiting to be born. They’ve been waiting all along, just beyond your fear and self-judgment, just outside the old familiar, unhealthy patterns that no longer serve you.
And so, as one person who has reinvented herself to another, know that you are safe to begin again and again and again. Your future self is already holding space for you to become the next, better version of yourself.
Anitra Lahiri 