The Most Difficult Part is the Start
To some of you, you have already entered into the new year of 2024. Congratulations, you made it! If you made it to 2024, half your battle is already won because you have begun it. I recently stumbled upon a social media post that was simple and yet profound; it was opposite of what many of our mindsets would have us believe without transformation. The main idea of the post was that the most difficult part of a task (and the topic at hand was a book), is the start.
Now, if you’re anything like me, and your inner critic needs a talking to from time to time, you may have thoughts cross your mind like “I can never complete a task” or “I never accomplish what I set my mind to” or something along those lines. Consider, though, have you ever even given yourself a fair chance at starting that goal you set out to accomplish?
Whether it be the research, the outline, the stocking of inventory… once we begin a thing and find our bearings, things go from seemingly impossible to possible. It doesn’t matter if the way we start doesn’t look someone else’s start. It doesn’t matter if our start was not how we envisioned. It doesn’t matter if it isn’t easy, what matters is that we begin the thing we know we are meant to do. Well, what happens if it doesn’t work out? That’s a whole other story…but did you try? Did you give yourself a fair chance? Did you stand having done all you could do to stand?
I had a vision about three years ago to begin a jewelry line that would sell beautiful, yet affordable jewelry. Can I tell you something? I had no idea how I would do it. I would begin a sketch and then struggle with how in the world I would be able to assemble such a sketch…I still struggle with this, but guess what? I am doing the thing. It is by no means easy, but I realized by dream was not impossible, it was achievable and all it took for me was to:
Start somewhere. Anywhere.
Think outside of the limitations I was setting for myself.
My sisters and I have a running joke that I go a bit easy on myself for my goals, but the truth is, I am just a bit of a realist. I’m a dreamer, too, but what’s more important to me is ‘do I have what it takes to make my dream come true’? If not, how can I get there?
I am proud to say that I did accomplish one of my goals and that was to design more jewelry this year. I actually had a whole collection that I made during the summer of 2023, but it didn’t do well. However, I was still able to say “you did it”. Maybe it was a dud collection, or maybe it wasn’t the right time, but here’s something I heard today that I loved. “There is no winning and losing, there is only winning and learning”. If you didn’t ‘win’ this time around, I’m sure you can say you learned something valuable.
“I learned that broken things can be mended with patience and time, and that things that seemed ‘dead’ can come back to life. ”
2023 in many ways felt like a “losing game’’ to me, but in all honesty, I came out feeling like a winner because this year I learned so much. I learned to speak up for myself even more; I learned when not to fight a battle. I learned to put pride aside. I learned to forgive myself for the times when I didn’t do better. I learned to trust God in all things concerning me even more than I ever have. I learned that broken things can be mended with patience and time, and that things that seemed ‘dead’ can come back to life.
In hindsight, would I have done things differently if I was given the chance? Oh, absolutely! Hey, I’m only human. However, God knows the beginning from the end. He knew what my 2023 would look like. He knew that despite the battles, my number one lesson would be that of gratitude. To just be grateful for what I do have. What I have accomplished. Where I am. ‘Cause if we’re still here, there’s more work to be done. All we have to do is…
start.