Today’s the day! You’re packed and ready to go, your excited and nervous but ready to take on what the next chapter of life has in store for you. You say bye to your neighbors you befriended, you say your goodbyes to your favorite local retail/grocery store staff member you got close too, now you are on your way to a new place.

Moving can be scary, especially if you are moving quite a bit aways from the place you called home. In my last article, I mentioned college. Many of you went off to college last month or this month and you’re about to experience a new state, country, or city, new people, new rules and some are returning from their vacation. Others may have moved to a new area this summer which means you entered a new school, make new friends or a new job, and adjusting to your enviorment.

This summer my family and I recently moved out of our apartment we lived in for 4 years! That’s the longest we’ve ever settled in a place. It was also the last place we lived with our dad. That was the toughest part of the move. Leaving the memories behind. The move was VERY stressful but once we had everything in the new place, it was a relief. Even though the city wasn’t new to me (because I work there) but for my siblings it was. I have to admit it took sometime to process (and still is) that this is going to be my new home for the next year or so because my mind relates this city to work. I wasn’t all that worried about making friends because I have a group of friends and family members I can call and spend the day with. I was also told I can be social bird, so that’s a plus right? For those of you that are moving out of state, country or a completely new city it can be a challenge. I don’t know how that feels to be alone in a completely new environment but what I can say is, you won’t be friendless for too long. We all have the potential to make new friends and explore the city, and get to know the new rules but don’t get lost and don’t go out after dark ALONE! When we settled in our new place I also new I wanted to get rid of bad habits and cultivate new ones and improve on habits I already had that I personally liked. I did just that.

I’m going to mention 1 bad habit I got rid of and 1 habit I want to get rid of, 2 good habits I cultivated, and 2 I’m improving on.

Bad Habits:

• One bad habit I’m glad I got rid of is leaving my keys everywhere in the house and never finding them. Grant you, I still misplace my keys from time to time but it’s not constant like how I use to in the old apartment. Thank Goodness!

The one habit I would like to get rid of is negative thinking. I’ve been pretty good lately but there’s times when negative thoughts creep into my mind and it just destroys my WHOLE day. This is a completely separate topic we will discuss another day and I will get more depth with it. Leave a comment below if this is something you will like to read.

Good Habits:

One of the good habits I cultivated was to relax when I’m put in a stressful situation. I thank my Tia/Aunt and Cousin for teaching me this while on vacation. They’ve seen how stressed I would become when I was put in a situation I had no control of.

Another one is read the bible every night before bed. Yes, I am a believer and this is one thing I’ve always wanted to fit in my daily schedule and it officially has a spot on my agenda.

Improvetments:

• One of the habits I improved on and that I’m very proud of myself for is waking up early. I know for the longest time I’ve been trying to get myself up before 8:30am to have me time or read but it was so difficult. Now I’m proud to say I wake up every morning at 5:30am and have a least 2 hours to myself in the morning before my day officially starts.

Another improving quality is looking at my planner on a daily and keeping it up to date. For those of you that personally know me know I use a physical planner. I’ve been using them for YEARS! If I write it down it helps me remember and I enjoy decorating and making things pretty but I have a tendency of writing down my to-dos and not returning to my list throughout the day because I’ll “remember” it and I will take care of everything I need to do. That’s never the case, if I don’t look at the planner I will forget a couple task and some of them are the important ones. I’m glad I finally made it a point to look back at that list and cross off my task that I have accomplished. It brings me a sense of joy knowing I did my to-dos and I was productive.

As you all can see the little things matter to me. They make a HUGE difference. It will help me in the long run.

For those of you that are moving or have moved to a new environment and are stressed about if you will like the new place, being alone, or just simply improving on your qualities after you have settled. I want to tell you it all takes time. Remember to breathe when things get tough and reach out to a trusted friend or family member. That comfort can help and remind you why you chose this path. It’s all a process, so take your time and you’ll figure it all out with in time. It will either be the best decision you’ve ever made or it will lead you to something even better and don’t forget, obey the rules!