Every January, we’re bombarded
…with the same hollow battle cry: New Year, New You! It’s plastered on planners, whispered in fitness ads, and promised by influencers with perfect lighting. Transformation is sold to us like it’s a product—like we can buy it, unwrap it, and be shiny and new by February.
But anyone who’s lived through real transformation knows it doesn’t come in a neat package. It’s messy, slow, and often feels more like falling apart before falling together.
It’s not a montage set to upbeat music. It’s crying in the middle of the night when no one is around to cheer you on. It’s fumbling through awkward, tiny steps forward. It’s doubting yourself so completely that you want to quit—but choosing, stubbornly, not to. It’s one imperceptible shift at a time, until one day, you look back and whisper, Wow. Look how far I’ve come.
Jessica Villegas knows that kind of transformation. Her story of surviving abuse, neglect, and human trafficking is a testament to strength born in the rubble. Don Salmon knows it too—he climbed out of homelessness and mental illness because one person believed in him, and he decided to believe a little too.
Transformation isn’t always about scaling towering, dramatic hurdles. Often, it’s found in the quiet, persistent moments—the kind no one applauds. Maybe this year, it’s as simple and profound as lacing up your sneakers and walking, like Jason O’Neil, who found his way to health 30 minutes at a time.
Or maybe, this is the year you decide to push the edges of what you thought possible. If so, let Andy and Stephanie Clark inspire you. This powerhouse duo has guided countless beginners from the couch to the finish line of a triathlon—not in one leap, but in steady, determined strides.
The stories on these pages are messy and real. They’re about showing up, getting lost, and showing up again anyway. They’re about doing the daily work even when the results don’t arrive on time or in the package you imagined.
The new year doesn’t hand you transformation wrapped in glitter. It hands you raw material: days, hours, minutes, messy starts and stops. And if you’re brave—or desperate, or stubborn—you pick up the pieces and begin.
Transformation isn’t about perfection. It’s about persistence. It’s gritty and glorious, the art of building something beautiful with your own flawed, imperfect hands. It’s proof that you are worthy—not because of what you achieve, but because you try.
And it starts with the smallest yes. One wobbly step toward the life you want, even if you don’t fully believe you’ll get there yet. It’s slow, sacred work. And it’s never, ever too late.
Here’s to the miracle of beginning again.
Heather Anne Lee
Editor
