DO OVER!

DO OVER!

Have you ever had one of those days that you find yourself after a long, hard day saying…I just wish I could have a DO OVER? 

I had one of those days recently.  Once getting home, I tried to shake off my bad day.  But, it wasn’t going anywhere!  Before I completely let go I knew that I needed to deal with some internal emotions that were caused from the events that had transpired.  The more I reflected, the more I wondered what I could have done differently to change the outcome of any one of these events that had me in the “bad day blues”.  While there were some situations that I didn’t see that I could have changed anything, there were others that became very apparent to me how I contributed to the unsuccessful outcome.  I certainly could have been better and that’s the root of why I was feeling badly.  What became clear was that I was internally struggling because of either my immediate actions/reactions to a situation, the words I chose to speak, or most annoyingly, the inability to come up with that perfect thing to say in the moment, which, by the way, always seems to come to me much later when the conversation is over. 

The only thought I had was…I WANT A DO OVER, I know how to do this better!  And what followed that thought was that it is impossible to have a DO OVER.  I felt helpless. 

Then I questioned my own thinking.  Why can’t I have a DO OVER?   I may not physically be able to turn back the hands of time and literally have a do over, but that doesn’t mean the war is lost.  Tomorrow is a new day.  Tomorrow the day will break and I have a fresh new opportunity to take the learning that I’ve had from today and implement it tomorrow.  I do get to do it over in an even better way than actually having to repeat this day.  I can make situations right and won’t have to repeat these mistakes again.  I am free from thinking and feeling badly about what I’ve done.  I will be better tomorrow.  I’ve learned more about myself and I’ve grown another step today as a leader.  When this kind of day happens again, as it inevitably will, I will now have a new perspective and hold the space for myself to learn and grow.   

I can’t help but draw an additional parallel that this realization allowed me to have on my spiritual journey.  After all of the reflection and learning, it then dawned on me that this is exactly how Jesus is with each of us every day.  We are extended new grace with each day break (Ephesians 2:8 & 4:7).  No need to beat ourselves up for failures and inconsistencies of yesterday.  Today we can have a DO OVER!  We can choose to do today differently and the past can not only be FORGIVEN but FORGOTTEN.  Thank God for His Amazing Grace!