Dr. T. Kleynhans 
17 March 2025 

I woke up to a Journey of Change

Yes, I purposely went to sleep to wake up to a new life.  
I could no longer feel the way that I did.  
That I decided. 
To me that was clear. 
Therefore, I went to sleep and woke up to a new life.  

That was my starting point.  
The end of the Journey…well that isn’t clear or fully decided on. 
But that doesn’t matter. 
I just know I started a life that matters to me.  

In this new life of mine I am going to script my emotions. 
My emotional text will reflect the feelings of worthiness, respect and happiness. 
My feelings won’t be dependent on the motives and interactions of other people – be they significant others or very insignificant others.  

I will clearly state my expectations for myself. 
I will communicate my expectations with the utmost humility and at the same time with the strongest surety. 
Life is too short to live within the prison of other people’s unreasonable demands. 
Life is too precious to waste on reacting to other people’s treatment of me as a person. 

I will always stand by myself.  
I will not abandon my journey.  
Even if I stand alone. 
That is my promise to myself.  
I will not live as if some things don’t matter, and other things do. 
On my daily Journey of Change everything matters. 
Every fine detail of the things that compose my day and life matters. 
The difference will be that I will decide how I will think and feel about it. 

This is my declaration of independence. 
A declaration of intellectual and emotional independence. 
My previous life was a roller coaster of ups and downs. 
Reacting on situations and people.  

Journeying with high hopes of naive expectations while experiencing the devastating disappointments of living with others and myself. 
Wishing and longing and hoping and striving and expecting good things to happen to me.  
But hitting rock bottom and travelling through the devastating lows of bitter disappointments more than I could bear. 
My new life is an exhilarating experience of a rich tapestry of emotions that support me and fuel my passions.