There’s no clean slate. There’s a messy slate and a stronger hand. That’s better anyway.

Starting over completely is a fantasy, because you cannot unknow what happened or hand back what it taught you. What you actually get is the same history plus more capability, which is a better deal than a blank page. A blank page would also mean beginning again from nothing.

Stop waiting for a tidy starting point, the new term, the new month, the week when nothing is going on. Begin from where things actually are, mess included, this week. The extra strength is only worth having if you spend it on something.