Something to Consider: Transforming Toward a “New You”

By Brenda Cochran, Contributing Writer

Often when some have written a list of all the things he/she would like to change when a New Year is approaching, many are placing a list to begin with changing some aspect of their personality or just an aspect that does not seem to be working very well.

It seems that today’s world is in the midst of a large historical change. We have seen this in not just our natural environment but also the attitude in reference to our culture, destructive values, but also religious and spiritual changes.

There are many questions about how an individual can really make the change, but many have found that there are varying ways in which a person can be able to develop a new you they want. Often some may feel that they do not have enough energy to develop the type of individual they want. Sometimes the circumstances in which he/she is living is preventing the transformation. Often it can just be stress, financial difficulties, a job loss, divorce, or the aging process that is standing in the way of making the change we want.

If these things occur, then we realize that we are not able to fix or change all the external changes. When this happens, we find that we need to work on the internal changes. This is when self-transformation can begin.

Sometimes it seems that we should take a look at the past and realize just how far we have come and how much we have learned. We may actually discover that we really don’t need a change, but instead remain the same as we are right now. “The New You” now may be perfectly fine.

The common understanding about transformation is ‘change in being’ or the ‘act of becoming something else.’ Should we change ourselves or just accept ourselves as we are now? Although self-change acceptance appears to be in opposition, they are two essential sides of the same coin of self-transformation.

Often, we have this desperate desire to change into “A New You,” it’s because we feel unhappy at the way things are right now. “The New You” may be perfectly fine. The common understanding about transformation is ‘change in being’ or the act of becoming something else. The question is – should we change ourselves or accept ourselves as we are?

How often have you heard a person say – “I’m just being myself” or “This is just the way I am – so don’t try to change me.” What we’re often saying is we want to stay stuck in our rigid places and we are not interested in showing others what is going on inside of us. Think about it – being ourselves means that we are authentic.

I think that the key to transforming both ourselves and perhaps our relationships is to learn what it means to accept and embrace ourselves just as we are. If we begin to understand what we are and how we are without trying to change ourselves, then we don’t need to go into a transformation. We can instead, think of our personal growth practice and make sure we are extending ourselves more toward people.

The fruits of personal and spiritual transformation show up in ordinary experiences. We can look with kind expressions to the grocery clerk and speak gently to the phone solicitor who is struggling to make a living. Our lives can be transformed when we live in the reality of the present.

The past is no more than a thought and the future is an illusion. If we can get rid of the past and future thoughts and just think in the “now” moment, we will no longer be living in a world of thought and illusion, but in the reality of the present moment and our lives will be exactly unrecognizable. We have already made ourselves “New.”