a better version of your old self

An old friend got in touch with me this week. One of my very best friends in High School and Middle School. Somewhere over the past few years we sort of lost track of each other. It has been over a year since I have even seen her. In her message she was asking me what I was up to and where I was these days and all of that good stuff. I quickly responded"not much is new" but then I realized EVERYTHING was new! In the past year since I have seen her I have graduated college, moved to my own place in Ohio, and started my first real job. I have travelled to new places, embraced new challenges, and have made new friends. I have run a half marathon, become and aunt, and started working on a graduate degree. And that is probably just the big things. It is amazing how quickly things change even when it seems like they haven't at all yet it only takes a quick "hello" from an old friend to remind you how much has changed and how much hasn't.

Change isn't so bad. It isn't always easy, but in changing anything you learn more about yourself and who you want to be while staring in the mirror at exactly who you are. When you look past the exterior and into your heart of hearts you begin seeing pieces of yourself; pieces that you don't like and pieces that you do. Some of those pieces you may not want anymore. They may be old, they may be bad, or they may be pieces that are far from the person you have become. Those pieces you slowly throw out and replace with something new and better. A new accomplishment, a new experience, or facing a new challenge. At the same time, you see all of the things that you like, the things that are at the core of your being, and the things you hope you never lose. You tuck those pieces away for safe keeping as the world spins on around you and the changes continue. We are never complete, really, and instead, are always staring back into that mirror re-evaluating where we are, who we are, and who we want to become.

It was nice to hear from my friend this week. It's always tough to lose track of someone you care about, but when your paths cross again it is a nice refresher on friendship and change; a subtle reminder of all the ways you have grown to be a newer, better version of your old self.