What if every day you were starting with a blank slate? How much different would your world be without pulling anything from the past?
Eugene – Starting with a Blank Slate
You may remember me talking about a man named Eugene. This was a man who lost the ability to store short-term memories. Due to a battle with a disease that damaged his brain, he could only remember anything that happened recently for a few seconds.
It started me thinking: what would it be like to not have to live with any baggage from the past? How much easier would it be to believe in yourself? And what would that mean for the encouragement and accomplishment we’ve received?
What would it be like starting with a blank slate?
Ditching the Pain
I don’t know if you’re like me, but I can find myself pleasantly living my life when a memory about some way I hurt someone or did something foolish comes out of nowhere to darken my mood. Depending on how badly I hurt someone, the pain could be overwhelming with no way to get rid of it.
If instead I were starting with a blank slate, I wouldn’t have those thoughts. I could escape the missteps and pain from the past and simply live a full life. What would that be like?
Imagine a life where you never say “I’ve always been clumsy” or “I’ve never been any good at math.” Your future is yours to define because there is nothing but the present. Imagine what you could accomplish without that baggage behind you.
Losing the Encouragement
At the same time, starting with a blank slate also means losing all the encouragement and motivation of the past. It means starting from scratch. Think of all the people that have inspired you and spurred you on to where you are. That includes you. Starting off with a blank slate means losing all that.
Sure, we can discard the pain, but we also have to discard all the encouragement. That’s the thing about life: the good and bad are often interwoven. We want to remove the one, but that typically involves removing the other.
Starting with a Blank Slate
As nice as it might be to think about getting rid of the pain that brought us here, we would also be getting rid of the lessons. We would be getting rid of the encouragement. We would lose so much of what made us uniquely qualified to be us and do what only we can do.
Yet, when you were imagining what you could accomplish without that baggage behind you, wasn’t it freeing to see all the possibilities in front of you?
Now ask yourself what’s stopping you. Is that roadblock real, or just a faded memory?
Likewise, think of all the people (including yourself) that have helped you come this far. When was the last time you showed them gratitude? Again, that includes you.
Why not make it today? You’re starting today with a blank slate. Now’s your time to make the most of it.
