Dying to Grow: The Path to New Beginnings

The new year is upon us once again, inviting us to look forward with hope, make fresh decisions, and walk new paths. At the start of each year, many of us make resolutions—some to spend more time on studies or with family, to begin exercising or adopting healthier eating habits, others to quit smoking, drinking, or other harmful behaviors, while still others aspire to engage in more meaningful, spiritual, or compassionate pursuits. Yet, the initial enthusiasm often fades with time. Embracing something new in our lives is rarely easy. We tend to cling to our old, familiar ways, even when they no longer serve us—or worse, when they become harmful. As the poet W.H. Auden wisely observed, “We would rather be ruined than changed.” Change is difficult, sometimes even painful, but failing to change leads only to stagnation, deterioration, and ultimately, death.

To begin something new often requires that something old within us must die. Without this shedding, the new cannot emerge and endure. Archbishop Fulton Sheen captured this truth beautifully: “When we die to something, something comes alive within us. If we die to self, charity comes alive; if we die to pride, service comes alive; if we die to lust, reverence for personality comes alive; if we die to anger, love comes alive.” Before we embark on the journey of the new and the noble, we must pause and reflect on what we need to let go of in order to make room for what is new. The new life demands a price—the price of the old self.

This year, let us reflect on what we want to see come alive in our lives, our families, and our communities—and consider what we must let die in order for the new to take root. Change is necessary. Change is growth. Change is life.          

 

 

Notes

Auden, W.H. in Hersh, S. A. (2022). (belonging): Finding the way back to one another. NavPress.  

Sheen F. in Hersh, S. A. (2022). (belonging): Finding the way back to one another. NavPress.