A Fresh Start
We are closing another year of our lives. For some of you, 2020 has been a great year. For others, well, let’s just say it hasn’t. In either case, in just over a week we will ring in the new year. A fresh start. A clean slate. A new beginning. Whatever happened in 2020 – and perhaps in spite of all that happened in 2020 – we have the opportunity to begin anew in 2021. Hopefully, we can bring some of the good stuff with us, and repeat it 2021. And we can certainly choose to leave the rest behind. After all, it’s a NEW YEAR.
I remember one particularly crazy holiday season. I went into my home office in early December, with the intention of producing Christmas cards to mail that year. When I turned on the computer, however, it quickly became clear that not only would I not be performing my intended task that day, but I wouldn’t be doing anything on that computer for quite some time. You see, my hard drive “crashed.” And, upon discovering this, my mood also “crashed.”
Before I get too deep into the story, please know that my data was completely backed up (which I highly recommend), so that was not the issue.
Even though no data was lost, I was still distraught. I really dislike (okay, I hate) wasting time, and I perceived that “violation” as an inconvenience that would require a tremendous amount of time and energy to correct. Not to mention that it occurred in early December, in the midst of the holiday season. Recognizing that our Christmas cards were in jeopardy, I allowed (for the moment) my sanity to also be in jeopardy.
I continued stewing for quite some time that day, allowing my emotional state to be adversely affected by something that (1) had already happened and (2) could not be changed.
Then, with help from my friend, I realized the wonderful opportunity that lay within the tragedy of the hard drive. And what perfect timing, too….
Like hard drives that become cluttered with software that we don’t need or use, our lives become cluttered, too. Rather than “deleting” these undesirable components, we continue to leave them installed on the “hard drive” of our lives. As these things build up inside us, they have an adverse effect on our system. Yet, we just leave them there, creating all kinds of reasons that justify doing so.
When my hard drive crashed, my slate was cleaned for me. All the useless clutter that was contained on the hard drive was gone. Sure, I had to reload needed software. But my system was clean as a result, and running efficiently.
When we eliminate clutter – old clothes, ill feelings, grudges, and the emotional baggage attached to so much of this “stuff” that we carry around – our personal “system” will be clean, too…and running efficiently.
Wipe your slate clean after next week. Begin 2021 with a renewed sense of excitement and gratitude about your life. As I quote often from Tony Robbins, “The past does not equal the future.” You are not living in quicksand. You do not have to continue the pattern of doing the undesirable things you’re doing now.
The definition of insanity is “doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting different results.” If you want 2021 to be different than 2020, then you must be different. Wipe the slate clean, and decide what you want 2021 to look like. Then, determine the kind of person you will need to become in order to make that happen. What will you have to be, do and say? What actions will you have to take? What support structures would be helpful to have in place?
In hindsight, I’m glad my hard drive crashed. Sometimes we have to get to that place in order to clearly see what’s occurring in our lives.
As you think about 2020, recall fondly the wonderful memories that were created, and look for the good even in that which was not desirable. Then, write down the changes that you can make in your life that will help to make 2021 your best year ever. Write down anything that comes to mind, and don’t stop until you’ve written at least 20 things. Finally, decide and then really commit to giving yourself the gift of making those changes. Your life will never be the same.
