Time To Start Fresh

By, Gabrielle Reece

Here we are in the thick of the holidays contemplating another year down. I have a birthday right after New Year’s so I do all this analyzing and looking at my life just a bit more than usual. Most times I go full circle and arrive back at the conclusion that we’re all going to grow older and die, so why pay that much attention to it? There’s something to be said for ignoring things sometimes. If I can’t control something and thinking about it too much paralyzes me, I’m all about moving on.

If I feel I’m doing all I can with the time I have (working, having fun, loving my family and friends, staying healthy, challenging myself), then screw it. Time is time and none of us are going to stop the clock. What else can you do? Regret that you aren’t 20 any more? I did all I could do during my 20-year-old life and now it’s time for me to focus on my 36-year-old life, not waste time looking back. Of course, most of would love having the freedom or skin of youth, but puberty, no license, mid-terms, and freaking out about everything? You can keep it!

If you feel like you dropped the ball at some point or wasted time, forget it. Just learn and implement the lesson into today. That even applies to not taking care of yourself. If you aren’t where you want to be health wise or your body isn’t how you would like or you don’t eat as well as you should, today is your day. What are you going to do, let the past hold you back from getting to where you want to be? It’s human to be paralyzed by the past, but it doesn’t exist anymore. There may be residual pain from something or even a few pounds that remind us of a past life, but we’re only living this moment. This is the only moment we are guaranteed, and before or after this time doesn’t exist.

One of the cool things about the New Year is that it does seem like a time for universal rebirth -we collectively agree that it’s a time to begin anew. Even though we have a new chance everyday and every moment, this is a designated time we all observe to start fresh. Whether you’re 15 or 50, you can start fresh. It’s not just for those under 25. We can all create change in our life that will be a part of the new us. By the way, if you hang around people that won’t see the new you or let you change, say bye-bye to them.

Is change easy? Please… If you want it bad enough and it’s for the right reasons, you can make it happen. It doesn’t come in a pill, and takes longer than six minutes a day, three times a week. I think that’s part of the reason we fail – we’re unrealistic about how the change is going to happen. We’re shocked that it’s going to take as much work and commitment as it does. Go into it knowing it’s going to be work, and you won’t be caught off-guard and end up quitting. Make a decision and go after it. When you want to quit, call a friend or read an uplifting quote. Create a support system for yourself going into it. This way, you’ll have it in place when you hit a bump in the road.

2007 Gabrielle Reece . All Rights Reserved.