Wiping the Slate Clean

It’s a funny thing the way our little corner of the universe is organized. Each day the earth makes one complete revolution on its journey around the sun—and us with it. Each morning when we wake up, the prior day is forever lost to us. It’s almost as if by design we were given the ability to call for a do over. Like somehow, it’s necessary.

Every year at just this time, we complete another trip around the giant star in the center of our solar system. The year that we are leaving is also forever lost to us as we enter the New Year. This annual journey is another opportunity to call for a do over.

The past is forever lost to us. The future is unknown. All we ever really have is this moment.

But we do step into that moment with all the knowledge and the experience we gained yesterday. We step into the new sunrise a little bit wiser and a little bit better prepared than we were the day before. We greet the new horizon armed with all the knowledge we gained from our victories, the lessons and scars from the battles we lost, and on the whole, better prepared.

We’re better prepared to try again.

We’re better prepared to try something new.

We’re better prepared for the adventure that is tomorrow.

And we’re better prepared to wipe the slate clean and start over.

You can’t carry your victories with you; those battles have already been fought and won. You can’t carry your losses with you either. You can’t refight those battles. All you can carry with you into the future is the wisdom that you gained from the ride you took on this small rock circling around the giant star in the center of our little corner of the universe—and all of the relationships you’ve developed on your journey.

If you need to wipe the slate clean, wipe it clean. Tomorrow is a brand-new day.

And the day after that is a brand-new day too, should you need it.

Make it a Happy New Year!