{"id":3560,"date":"2025-12-23T14:17:43","date_gmt":"2025-12-23T22:17:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bellagracemagazine.com\/?p=3560"},"modified":"2025-12-23T14:19:03","modified_gmt":"2025-12-23T22:19:03","slug":"beginning-the-year-on-a-new-page","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bellagracemagazine.com\/blog\/beginning-the-year-on-a-new-page\/","title":{"rendered":"Beginning the Year on a New Page"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Words: Christen Hammons<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n

Age is something I\u2019ve thought about throughout my life. When I was younger, I couldn\u2019t wait to be an adult. Once I arrived there \u2014 facing all the responsibilities that come with it \u2014 I found myself wishing, at times, to be a child again. I\u2019ve ticked off milestone ages, eagerly anticipating some while quietly dreading others. Now, firmly in my 40s, I\u2019ve come to realize that life is more than the age you happen to be. Each passing year becomes another part of your story, and instead of focusing on numbers, I\u2019ve begun to think of my life as a series of chapters, slowly coming together to form the book of my life.<\/p>\n

With a new year upon us, it feels natural to think of this moment as turning the page rather than counting the numbers. It\u2019s the perfect time to pause and ask myself which chapter I\u2019m currently living in, and, just as importantly, what I want to carry forward and what I\u2019m ready to leave behind as the next chapter begins.<\/p>\n

As the clock strikes midnight this year, I\u2019m turning the page on living according to other people\u2019s standards \u2014 measuring, adjusting, and trying to meet expectations that weren\u2019t always my own. It taught me a lot, but it also reminded me how easy it is to lose your footing when you\u2019re not listening to yourself.<\/p>\n

As I turn the page, I\u2019m stepping into a chapter that feels more authentic and freer. It\u2019s a season in which I\u2019ll be guided by my own values and moving at my own pace while trusting more in myself and what feels right. It\u2019s a gentler chapter, I hope, and one I\u2019m looking forward to starting.<\/p>\n

Share with us: What\u2019s the name of the chapter you\u2019re currently on?<\/p>\n

Find inspiration for the new year in Bella Grace<\/em> Issue 46<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Age is something I\u2019ve thought about throughout my life. When I was younger, I couldn\u2019t wait to be an adult. Once I arrived there \u2014 facing all the responsibilities that come with it \u2014 I found myself wishing, at times, to be a child again. I\u2019ve ticked off milestone ages, eagerly anticipating some while quietly […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":3561,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,7,130],"tags":[34,59,313,217,312],"class_list":["post-3560","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all","category-life","category-lifes-beautiful-journey","tag-gratitude","tag-life","tag-life-journey","tag-new-year","tag-reflection"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bellagracemagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3560","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bellagracemagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bellagracemagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bellagracemagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bellagracemagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3560"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bellagracemagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3560\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bellagracemagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3561"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bellagracemagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3560"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bellagracemagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3560"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bellagracemagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3560"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}