Starting Over

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Do you sometimes feel stuck in habits of thinking and feeling or the things you do? Do you feel like you’re living out your own version of the movie Ground Hog Day, going through endless cycles of the same things in the same ways?

Then I have some wonderful news for you! Built into you is a way out of that loop. To unlock it, all you have to do is be willing to assume full ownership of your life and then start over from where you are. It’s not as hard as you’ve been telling yourself. Join me this week as we consider ways of reaching within ourselves and setting ourselves free.

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Before we begin, I want to share something personal with you. When I began recording these podcasts nearly three years ago, it was because I want mine to be a strong and strident voice for what is good in the world. As much as I can, I want to speak to and encourage the very best and highest in each of us.

In the past few weeks, not only has that commitment not diminished, it’s gotten stronger. To say it as simply as I can, I believe in us—all of us, the entire human family. It’s the Light of our shared humanity that will take us into a better future and will help us live more meaningfully and make wiser and more compassionate decisions in the present.

And so, thank you for the support you show by listening to these podcasts and by sharing them with others. Just knowing that you’re listening is all the encouragement I need to keep going.

Now to this week’s consideration, and the self-bestowed freedom of letting go and starting over.

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In every moment we’re alive, we are completely free to pause and begin again—free to start our lives over—as often as we need to, as often as we want to, as many times as we choose to.

That’s not just a catchy phrase. It happens to be true.

The moment we accept that our lives fully belong to us, and that we’re the ones—the only ones—making our decisions, from the inside-out, something marvelous takes place. We recognize many of the “rules” we’ve been living by for what they are, and that they don’t work and never really did. By having that recognition, we step more fully in to the present and we open the door to healthy personal change.

One of the first of the old rules to throw onto the compost pile is the one we use to tell ourselves that we “have to do it perfectly,” whatever “it” may be. In fact, when we take a cold, hard look at “perfect,” we see that perfect is the enemy of “good enough.” Think about it and you’ll see that compared to “perfect,” words like excellent, marvelous, great, fantastic, wonderful, superior, magnificent, grand, and a long list of others, are all describing failure. Failure!

Really?! Excellent is failure?! Really?! Magnificent is failure?! Wonderful is insufficient?! When “be perfect” is the standard, nothing will be good enough. Nothing.

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The liberating truth is that we never have to do anything perfectly. Not one thing. We aren’t capable of it. We don’t even have to get it right the first time. Or in most cases, the second or third or fourth. We just have to keep learning and growing and focusing. And eventually, we get there.

As you continue in the process of awakening, you’re probably recognizing that when it comes to being human, we’ll never be perfect. Perfect isn’t our job and never was. Once again, our job is to keep learning and growing, gradually returning to what we authentically are. Coming home to what we have always been, regardless of what the world has shown us or the demands it tries to impose on us.

The more we operate from the awareness of who and what we truly are, and the more kindness and compassion we intentionally offer ourselves, and then to those around us, the more often the things we “do” will be just right. Not perfect, but just right.

Recognizing that, we grant ourselves the authority to stop the clock and come to a standstill for as long as we need to. Each time we do, our awareness becomes clearer and we begin again from that point.

When we accept the truth of that authority, that we are in control of our own lives, we release ourselves from the disease of busyness. We enliven all that we do with the slow and steady revitalizing breath of deep stillness and inner calm. It’s from that place that our very best shines out of us.

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As an experiment in awareness, allow yourself to slow the moment—just a bit—and then allow yourself to become aware of what a “personal restart” would look or feel like to you. Then, without having to acquire resources or ideas or materials, and without giving in to any sense of urgency, offer yourself total permission to allow that restart to happen. With that permission in place, then take any single step that will help you start over from where you are.

Remember, you’re not stuck. You never really were. And you’re not bound to the old and outdated “rules” that got you stuck. You are self-liberated into the wholeness and balance of your life.

With that in mind, here are this week’s three Beautiful Questions.

Question One: What rules or ideas have you been following that have been holding you back from being fully alive? What rules or beliefs are you following that are keeping you from truly living?

Question Two: To the degree that you know it, where, or from whom, did you acquire them? Where did you get the ideas that have been running—and in some cases ruining—your life?

And finally, Question Three: As the author and editor and publisher of your own daily life script, what healthier ideas do you choose to put into place, right now? What new guiding principles will help you live more effectively and in more balanced ways?

Remember, it’s not about doing it perfectly, or even getting it completely right. It’s about living dynamically, and “editing” or adjusting in ways that bring you to greater balance, greater awareness, and a deeper sense of lived peace.

As you continue making the shift, write and tell me what things are changing for the better in your life.

As I say each week,

My Light with Your Light.

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