When Bryony
turned thirty, she was sad to still be in a sales job she’d never liked. She
decided it was time to stop procrastinating and find a new career. For David, Erev
Rosh Hashana had him looking in the mirror vowing this would be the year he
lost weight. And for James, it was watching another month pass without his
angry outbursts decreasing. Next month, he promised himself, he would try
harder.
If you’ve
ever vowed to change at the start of a new month, new year, or a major
birthday, you’re not alone. Researchers even have a name for it: the fresh
start effect. They suggest that at calendar points like these we’re more prone
to assess our lives and try putting our failures behind us to start over.
Wanting to be better people, we long for a fresh start.
Our
tradition speaks powerfully to this longing, offering a vision of what our best
selves can be and calling us to leave our past selves behind . Repentance, teshuva, offers this change not by
decisions and vows alone, but by our actions.
Becoming the
best version of ourselves is the ultimate fresh start. Rosh Hashanah provides
us the opportunity to become the people we truly want to be. Your new life can
start right now in 5785.
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