I’m going to guess that all of us have had an experience in our lives where something was ruined.  The tent fell down, the lego castle was crushed by our brother, the hairdresser chopped our bangs too short, the cake came out of the oven underbaked, the application got denied, the internship didn’t turn into a job, the 25-year marriage ended … you get the picture.   

“Oh, Great!!  Now I have to start ALL over!”

In these instances we tend to think about starting over as something negative – and who wouldn’t!  (Have. You. Seen. Those. Bangs??)  

But what if we reframed that? 

Rachelle Williams says there are 4 benefits we gain when we take the opportunity to start over in any area of our lives.  

1. We learn to accept and grow.  

“It’s important to understand that starting over isn’t about failure.  Starting over is the knowledge that there is something better out there for you – even if you don’t know what it is yet. It’s about learning from the past and using it to propel you forward in a way you had never considered before. It’s .. accepting who you are .. and finding ways to make decisions from [that] place of truth.”

2. It encourages self-inquiry.

Some sample questions to ask yourself might be:

• What things give you energy?
• What’s holding you back right now?
• How are you being true to your values?
• What things do you want to make more room for in your life?
• What things do you think it is too late for? And is that true?

“As you grow in self-awareness, you begin to remove the blocks to fulfilling your potential and live more in tune with your true purpose.  You become comfortable living with the unknown, which is often the biggest fear around change.”

3. We learn to trust our instincts.

“Starting over is a decision that doesn’t come easily.  If you have decided that now is the time for a fresh start, that likely comes from a place of deep need.  It means you can no longer continue as you have been. It’s a quiet knowing or instinct that something has to change.”

4. It opens us to fresh insights.

“Starting over helps open doors to a new way of thinking and being by changing (and hopefully lightening) your load and by offering new perspectives. It’s hard to see clearly or believe what’s possible from a low vantage point.  When you make the effort to change your life, no matter how small, you gain access to a higher vantage point where new understandings are revealed and creativity thrives.”  

I was working with a client a few weeks ago who hates her house.  She claims the space no longer works for them and she just wants to move.  Her circumstances right now don’t allow for a move so I suggested she think of starting over in her own house, the very house she’s in right now.  

Knowing what she knows now about her family and how they use space, what if she approached this house as if it was new to them.  What ideas would she come up with?  How could she use the same blueprint more effectively for them? What spaces need rethinking?

What if she started over?

Making and accepting decisions from her place of truth.

Removing the blocks to fulfilling her potential.

A quiet knowing that something is about to change.

Lightening her load and offering herself new perspectives. 

That doesn’t sound so bad, right?

It works with houses, bodies, relationships, hobbies, jobs, and yes, even bangs.  

I can’t wait to hear about the ways you’re starting over.  

And if you need some help, I got you!