How are you? I hope you’re well.
Monday’s email was about starting something new. Yesterday that was me, in a hard way.
My sister and I cleared out my Mum’s things. She died in September, and we’d been putting this off waiting until the New Year…
Mum was a great declutterer – she’d often say, “If you want it, have it! I don’t need it!” – so she had very few possessions. Some clothes. A little jewellery. We went through everything in just a few hours.
It was sad. But it was necessary. It was the beginning of a new era whether we wanted it or not.
Some new starts can’t be avoided.
Death. Divorce. Redundancy. Your kids leaving home. Your body changing in ways you can’t control.
These beginnings are thrust upon you. You don’t choose them. But you have to start anyway.
Other new starts? Perhaps we avoid those.
Even when we know avoiding them costs us.
We avoid starting because starting requires courage. It requires being a beginner again, admitting maybe we got something wrong and need to try differently.
Starting requires being willing to be bad at something.
I’ve started lifting weights. I’ve never done it before and I feel daft doing it.
But I know that in 10 years, I’ll either thank myself for starting now or regret that I didn’t. I already regret that I didn’t start earlier.
So I bought some dumbbells and I’m doing 10 minutes three times a week. I’m not good at it, I just do it anyway.
And that’s the point.
Starting doesn’t require you to be good. It just requires you to begin.
The question is:
Are you avoiding starting something?
- The difficult conversation you need to have?
- The boundary you need to set?
- The dream you’ve been putting off?
- The small practice that would change your life?
You don’t have to do it perfectly and you don’t have to know how it will turn out.
You just have to take the first step.
With love and best wishes always,
Susy
P.S. What’s the one thing you’ve been avoiding starting? Hit reply—I read every response.
Ready to go deeper?
If you’re ready to stop avoiding and start choosing yourself, I’d love to support you.