How many times have you longed for a fresh start?
Whether in your relationships, career, or even a sentence? I personally don’t have to think very hard to come up with a number of instances I would like to walk back. Instances where I wish I would have waited to speak, or executed a more thoughtful approach. But such is the nature of being human; we are error-inducing beings that seem to dig ourselves into holes at a fairly regular interval.
In Psalms 19, we see David make a very human request to God that I can readily identify with:
“Clean the slate, God, so we can start the day fresh!
Keep me from stupid sins, from thinking I can take over your work;
Then I can start this day sun-washed, scrubbed clean of the grime of sin.”
David asks God to clean the slate so he can start the day fresh. How many times have you started a day in the hole or a funk? Already felt guilty, like you were a failure, or knew you let people down before you even began? What a tremendous burden to place upon yourself to start the day. Especially before coffee.
What if we could instead begin each day anew? If we could let things go and focus on what today will bring vice yesterday’s shortcomings. This seemingly lofty objective is achievable if we can take a step back from ourselves. For our transgressions and failures remain far more prevalent to us than anyone else. While we replay it ad nauseam, others have already moved on and in some cases forgotten. We need to be able to do the same, because our mindset when we begin the day is fundamental to our success or failure therein.