Each year end, we come to a point where we discard the old, and pick up the new. We shed off the old year, and all of its problems, and we start fresh. But maybe we don't need to start fresh. Maybe what we need to do is continue.
Yes, we should cast off anything we no longer need. Yes, we should embrace the changes coming in the year ahead, no matter what those changes may bring. But instead of starting fresh, maybe what we need to do is simply continue the growth we did in the previous year.
As individuals, we grow, and that growth brings change (or is it the other way around, or both). Growth is continuous whether we realize it or not. The same is true for learning. The day we stop learning is the day we stop paying attention to everything around us. It is also the day we stop growing because growth is dependent on learning. To grow we understand and assimilate changes. We adapt to new things. We add new concepts to our way of thinking, thus changing how we think, changing how we act and react.
Sometimes, there is a point that we do indeed need to start over, whether that be starting a new career, moving to a new town, or saying goodbye to old friends, and meeting new ones. But even the decisions that created this change came from growth. When one starts a new career, it is a new beginning. But they do so because they have grown out of the previous one. One starts into a new endeavor, a new field. But one does not leave behind everything that was. That is part of growth. That is experience. We take experience with us, and use it to move forward and continue to grow.
So as this year comes to a close, I look forward to continuing the growth that I had last year, and years before that. And as a wish for the new year, I hope that you continue to grow, and reach the fulfillment of what you can achieve in whatever endeavors you find yourself.