The best of Morning Musely: Fresh beginnings

How to embrace doing something new.

“I said you wanna be startin' somethin', You got to be startin' somethin'”

Michael Jackson

I love starting things.

First day nerves don’t mean a lot to me.

The thrill of the unexpected, the promise of anew. I love the idea of ‘what could happen?’ It invigorates me.

But I know that’s not everyone, and maybe it’s not you.

If you’re about to start something - or know someone who is - here’s some advice.

Your first day isn’t the only day you’ll experience. It’s the first of many.

My daughter started at a new school a couple of years ago. It was a change from one primary school to another - because the new one was the feeder for High School.

This meant her transition was a lonely one. She was doing it but her friends weren’t. She was nervous but very brave on her first day.

I remember picking her up from school that day and was shocked by her response.

‘I never want to go back to that school’. I knew it was a good place for her to be, and knowing her - she’d come to love it too.

So I didn’t deny her ‘bad’ first day but promised her the next day would be easier. Then the next day after that would be easier again.

And so it was.

It’s important not to judge everything on a ‘first day’. Putting too much pressure on it doesn’t help.

Nothing is as bad as you think it is.

It doesn’t mean it’s good or bad, it’s just new.

New is unfamiliar.

Unfamiliar is temporary.

It becomes more familiar.

And more familiar is more comfortable.

You just have to give it one more day.