Lewis Carroll, the renowned author of Alice in Wonderland, once said “It’s no use going back to yesterday, because I was a different person then.”

When we get to January 1 and the New Year resolutions it brings, we often feel pressure to stick to our guns. You might decide that 2020 is the year for you to lose some weight but then, a few days later, feel like starting an academic course, while you continue enjoying your Christmas chocolate without an extra serving of guilt.

What I’m trying to say is that it’s okay to change your mind. You are not a robot programmed to obey and follow a system. You are a complicated human being, trying to make sense of so much information given to you every day and, going back to Carroll’s words, there is already so much going on in your head and you may feel like a different person from one day to the next, trying to work it all out. That’s okay too.

Tomorrow, when the clock strikes midnight on Hogmanay and for the year ahead, do not feel compelled to follow the crowd or what you said about something last week or yesterday if you feel, in the moment, that is no longer right.

Trust your gut. If that’s telling you to take a different path than you’d previously mapped out, do not feel obliged to ignore it and stick to your plan. Thankfully, we live in a reasonably free country and you are allowed to change course at any moment when it comes to decisions which affect you.

Your decision might disappoint people, you say? It might offend people? Well, I’ve never met anyone who has managed to stay true to themself and please everyone else at the same time. It’s life’s unsolvable equation, so you might as well cut out the worry and do what suits you.

I’m not saying don’t have beliefs, goals or aims – I think you should have those – but don’t treat them like traps you can’t escape from or worry that something awful is going to happen if you change your mind.

There’s no point in thinking that you’ll look worse to others because you’re fickle and curious.

My mum was engaged to someone else when she met my dad. She turned down her fiance – which might be seen by many as a risky or hasty decision – and hasn’t looked back since. I exist because she made that call.

Dramatic U-turns or changes of heart should not be seen as disloyal. They’re a sign of being human and the fact they are seen in such a bad light is often the reason so many feel resentful about life, because they didn’t do what they really wanted to do.

I’ll leave you with a quote from another great author, F. Scott Fitzgerald, who said “I hope you live a life you’re proud of. If you find you are not, I hope you have the courage to start all over again.”

Whatever decisions you make in the near future, do not view them as final. Free yourself and enjoy the ride.

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