When Fresh Starts Aren’t So Fresh

It’s the end of summer in this part of the world and with that come new beginnings - back to work, back to school - a chance to begin again with a fresh start.

The problem is that as the years go by, the freshness of a fresh start begins to fade.

After all, we’ve all made our resolutions only to have them broken, picked out the perfect outfit for the first day only to come home confused and overwhelmed, gone back online and tried again only to jump back off again in utter disappointment, sent out resumes with effort and hopefulness only to be met by a gaping black hole.

It’s hard to start fresh when your fresh starts have a history of not-so-fresh endings.

So how do you greet the new when the exhaustion brought upon by disappointment and frustration outweighs the energy boost of earnestness and optimism?

With a single step.

And a reminder that this fresh start is different than any other you’ve had before.

Because who you are in this moment is not the same person you were last time you did this. You have walked through experiences and healing and awareness and somehow are back here again - with a part of you still willing to believe in yet another opportunity to start again.

Heraclitus said that you cannot step twice into the same river. The moment you are stepping into is new, too.

This moment in your life, this moment in time.

So even if you’ve done this a million times, it isn’t the same you. And it isn’t the same moment.

This is good news for the optimist in us: that the fresh start is always available.

That our very willingness to believe in change, in good, in our capacity to want and to walk towards our wants, no matter what our experiences may have told us about that, is the freshest take on life there is.

Here’s to fresh starts and new beginnings.

And to those who celebrate, I wish you and yours Shana Tova ve’Metuka - a very happy, healthy and sweet New Year.

Yours anew,

Karen