A Fresh Start Copyright: Patti Henry, 2004 Quote: If you have made mistakes…there is always another chance for you…you may have a fresh start any moment you choose, for this thing we call “failure” is not the falling down, but the staying down. –Mary Pickford, 1893-1979 This quote has sustained me many, many times. “You may have a fresh start any moment you choose…” I love that. Any moment you can say to yourself, “Okay, I screwed up, I messed up, I should have/would have/could have, but didn’t; I blew it – and THIS is the moment that I wipe the slate clean, and begin again. Remember the Etch-a-Sketch toys? No matter what a chaotic mess you made on it, at any moment you could turn it over, give it a few shakes, then start with a perfectly beautiful blank screen once again. So it is with behavioral change. We will make a mess out of things time and again as we are shifting into a new behavior. Okay, that’s the way it is. So what? So, be gentle with yourself.
I want to tell you the story of one of my clients who struggled with depression for years. She decided, at a deep level, that she was done with that struggle. She started taking action: getting on an anti-depressant, coming to therapy, committing to getting rid of depression as her lifestyle. One day, tired of the battle, she succumbed to her old behavior. She turned off the lights, lay down on the couch, and pulled on her blanket intending to sleep the day away until the kids got home. And then, she remembered! She remembered that at any moment she could have a fresh start. She got up, turned on the lights, put away her blanket, got in the car and drove to Starbuck’s. It may seem little – but it was huge. It was the true beginning of her making a major lifestyle change. So, today think about this: You may not be able to write the beginning of the story differently if you’ve screwed up, but you can write the ending differently any moment you choose. |
