I love new... I hate new

Today I'm linking back to http://thegypsymama.com/2011/08/five-minute-friday-new/ and her 5 minute Friday challenge.  The rule is that you write for 5 minutes on a word prompt.  Doesn't have to be profound or perfect, just 5 minutes of writing what is on your mind.  I struggled to stay within 5 minutes, but it's a start!

GO

I had an exciting childhood, moving around the country as my late Dad was an exploration Geologist.  We lived in many different places – from a peaceful farm on the Karoo to bustling Johannesburg.  I went to no less than 5 different schools, and have lived in countless more places.  With this excitement however came a lot of heart ache and starting things over.

I LOVE new.

New conjures up images of clean, fresh and sparkling. It creates excitement, possibilities, challenges, exploration, a chance to start over.  New friends, new faces, new names and new places. Finding my way in new schools, with brand new uniforms.  New homes, new routines and even new languages.

All sounds rather exciting. 

I HATE new.

New means something old has to go.  It means uprooting yourself from your home and all things familiar.  Looking at your new home and wondering whether you’ll ever be able to call this “home” with a longing to go back to your old home, only to be told, this is home now – but it sure doesn’t feel like it.  The heartache of leaving your very best friends that you’ve spent the last two years of your life with. The people that help shape you and how you view the world.  The people that make you feel like you belong.  The insecurity of a new school, being the new girl again, not fitting in, not speaking the same language, being so unsure of yourself, wondering why no-one wants to be your friend. 

After a while though new becomes old, and you adapt to your new life and make new friends and get comfortable in your new home.  However you can never forget the old you’ve left behind.

There isn’t a new without an old, they go hand in hand.  However to move forward in life, you need NEW.  

New has taught me to adapt, to be open to others, to challenge the status quo, to accept that things change and to allow new things in to my life as therein lies the growth and change that everyone needs.

STOP