Twenty-Six Thoughts on Rebirth and Reinvention - January
Reflections on what changes before life does.
You know how the last days of each December arrive with a slam from the universe to show us that whatever we have done in the year that’s coming to its end… now has to remain in the past. And you certainly know how each December, right before the new year knocks on the door, leaving an invisible trace in the snow, we get flooded with content on the topics of new year’s resolutions, fresh starts, and becoming greater versions of ourselves.
And as I was sitting at home (a.k.a. the Museum of Meltdowns) in Istanbul, in December 2025, reminiscing about the year that had almost passed and the lessons I had learned, I couldn’t help but wonder…
Do we ever pause and realistically take into consideration how our lives actually look before we try what reinvention feels like?
I kept writing in How to Make 2026 the Best Year by Mel Robbins, convinced I had the clarity required to welcome the new year feeling prepared, calm, and structured — as structured as I can be. I set goals that I had neglected in 2025. I set some necessary boundaries, both with some people around me and with myself.
And I waited.
Here’s what I’ve found so far, now in January.
1. Reinvention is not loud.
Until it is.
You don’t announce it, you live through it. It announces its arrival softly and sometimes you don’t even realize it’s come.
2. Starting anew is necessary because of you, not because others told you it’s time for a new beginning.
3. If you’re genuinely happy with your current life, you don’t need to start over. Maybe. Certainly?
4. You can’t start rebuilding if you’re still stuck in the old routines.
5. Old routines will try to devour you into their abyss, but this is the first reality check. Are your foundations strong enough?
6. Anyone can reinvent themselves at any age. Stop thinking of the numbers, think of the outcome.
7. It’s important to be realistic when it comes to your present. There may be things you want to escape (a job, a relationship, a city) but you still might need to keep them a little longer until you build something strong enough so you can leave.
8. Believing in yourself and avoiding self-guilt, can be lifesaving.
9. No one teaches us how to stand still without guilt. Standing still does not mean giving up. It means building a strategy that you can later implement.
10. I need to read self-development books now. I take what I need and release what I think should be released.
11. The universe doesn’t reward us instantly with peace, but with chaos. Thus, we see what our boundaries and limits are.
12. Am I doing everything right? What even is right?
13. Every day you do something new that’s bringing you closer to your goals is reinvention.
14. Becoming yourself doesn’t necessarily look like a glow-up. Sometimes it’s just pushing through survival until the next moment of freedom.
15. Waiting doesn’t magically save you, as much as you believe in magic.
16. Sometimes you will have to deal with some of your worst traits because they will reveal what they are.
17. The most uncomfortable moments are exactly the ones that show us what needs to change. They’re a sign that movement must happen. Discomfort arrives first, though.
18. A question struck me:
What if reinvention isn’t the actual moment we change, but the moment you admit the old life no longer fits?
Think about it. The moment you admit to yourself that the old life doesn’t serve you and that you need a way out can be considered reinvention, can’t it?
19. Rebirth starts when we have run out of ways to avoid ourselves.
20. Small wins are still wins. Tiny steps are still movement.
21. Learn your traumas. Look for them in the past. Usually, it’s an old version of ourselves that’s gripping us. Make peace with it.
22. It can’t be difficult, right? This is probably one of the most misleading questions you can ask yourself.
23. And when you realize how hard it is, you ask yourself… Can’t it just be easier?
It doesn’t need to be easier, it’s just different.
24. Trusting yourself is probably the best action you can take when you’re feeling low.
25. I didn’t deserve this to happen.
26. But tomorrow will be better.
And as I waited and experienced life in the last one month, these twenty-six thoughts crossed my mind and stayed with me. I realized something. Making the attempt to start changing your life means one thing.
You’re on the right path and you cannot go back. And I realized why.
Once you’ve tasted the fruit of rebirth, even just a little, you would want more of it. Maybe not right away, because you can get caught up in the old routines easily, but you will not go back to who you were.
My closest people know how hard 2025 was for me. I made mistakes, I lived in survival mode for almost a year, and yet… there was always a quiet voice calling out my name.
At one point, I turned to it and it said: you are meant for more.
There were hardships, there was drama, there was the heaviest downpour I’ve ever witnessed, there was the largest power outage I have experienced, exhaustion… and stories I’ll save for later.
If you have checked my publication, “I Couldn’t Help But Wonder”, under its title, there is a line: “and I kept asking.”
Ask. Give yourself permission to ask. Look for ways to improve your life. Give yourself some grace. Save yourself the meltdowns because life, in its own crazy, twisted, and silly way, always shows you that the best is yet to come.
And the bravest reinvention is allowing yourself to become a different version of yourself. Different from your past versions.
And if even one of these twenty-six thoughts stayed with you after reading this…
then rebirth has already begun.
This essay began as the first entry in a monthly series on reinvention. The series returns in June on The Wonder Mag.
An earlier version of this essay was originally published on I Couldn’t Help But Wonder on Medium. This version is now part of The Wonder Mag archive.