The New life is often where we find life itself

​Life will always feel new to you if you are going forward.

The challenge is, we don't always like the feeling of new. New comes with the unknown. The unfamiliar. The scary.

Scary. That doesn't sound like peace. And ultimately, isn't that what we are all in search of?

Peace.

It's hard to understand, but sometimes we - (me) - settle into turbulent or anxious or apathetic life patterns because we know those patterns. They are familiar. And familiarity, as ugly as the familiar might be, can be easily mistaken for peace.

This may not feel good, but I know how to do this THIS. I'm not sure I can do the next step in life, but I'm completely confident in my ability to keep doing this one.

I've practiced this one my whole life.

There comes a point when you wonder if peace is on the other side of where you are. It just has to be.

So you take a step. You don't recognize the surroundings; the path beneath you feels slippery and unstable. It all just feels so new.

I must be going the wrong way?

One sure sign that I have walked into a new space, into a new opportunity, into a new relationship, into a new possibility - into new hope - one sure sign of new is I do not recognize any of this.

For some, that might be a sign to turn around.

For some, though, for those looking to move forward, the new is a welcome sign. The new says you don't recognize me not because of where you are, but because you are no longer where you were.

Because you are moving forward and onward.

Today, if you want to move toward something - toward any goal or place or situation - it starts with accepting there is going to be something new in all the steps to getting there.

The key is to embrace the new more than the familiar.

To embrace possibility more than settling.

To embrace challenge more than confidence and control.

Because the path forward is often out of our control, it often leaves us doubting we are up to the challenge, it often leaves us tempted to turn around and go back to the familiar.

Don't turn around. New life is often where we find life itself.

But new life is never found clinging to the old. Life will always feel old if you are stuck.

Go forward, and celebrate every new step along the way.