Who we are changes over time. The things you used to want might not be important to you now. Old friends might not be good for you anymore. Look at the plans you used to have. Do they still make sense? Do you still enjoy working towards them? Changing over time is often a good thing, and that means shedding parts of our old identity that just don’t fit anymore. And if old goals or friends just don’t feel right anymore it might be time to leave them behind too.

Don’t let guilt hold you back. Holding onto an old version of yourself doesn’t help anyone, even if that’s the version others expect you to be. Risking those relationships might not feel good, but neither does repeating old mistakes. Are you ready to leave the old you behind? The friendships holding you back, the habits that conflict with where you want to go, the identity you’ve outgrown? Your days should serve the person you want to become, not the husk of who you used to be.

After all, the best you could do back then is not the best you can do today. You know more. You have more experience. Don’t hate yourself from yesterday, and don’t waste energy lamenting past mistakes. But close the chapter. Take the lessons, and move on. The sun is rising and it’s your choice if you put on old dirty clothes or you try something new. 

This new road will not feel comfortable at first – trying something new is always scary. Blazing a new trail means feeling uncertain, chopping trees, and hoping that thing you grabbed is a vine and not a snake. The very act of trying the unknown means experimenting to find what works and what doesn’t. And since you have more information than yesterday it is certain you’ll find better answers, but only after leaving the old camp behind. The new you is on the other side of this jungle. The camp you know, the one with the fire and stream and firewood is behind us. You can stay there if you want, but to find something better you’ll have to leave it behind. You have to understand that there is more out there. Some experiences tell us what we don’t want, some tell us what we do want, and some tell us where the dead ends are. But we cannot use this information without leaving the old camp behind.

This path is not easy, but the old camp is stale, sparse, soiled, and stagnant. You need something new. You know it will be a fight but you also know the pains of sitting still. How much longer can you stay like this? How much longer will you assume nothing could be better than that which you’ve already found? And how can you pretend you want to stay where you are when so much of it makes you unhappy?

You can keep hiding from this if you want, but it won’t go away. How painful will you let this become? How long will you wait to move on? Something better is waiting for you out there, but only you decide when to go find it. There’s never going to be a perfect time, so what are you waiting for?