At sundown today our Jewish friends will observe Rosh Hashanah, one of the most important holidays, the New Year.  While there is a celebration, it is a time of personal introspection and prayer.  After Rosh Hashanah come 10 days known as Ten Days of Repentance.  They offer a chance for spiritual renewal and repentance before Yom Kippur, which is to atone for sins between man and God.  It occurs to me at this time every year that there are common principles in all spiritual traditions.  The Christian liturgy begins with the confession of sins, and the 12
Step Tradition of addictions recovery contains a step of making amends
to those we have hurt or caused injury.  The practice of accepting responsibility and making atonement for our shortcomings and errors is an essential step in living a healthy life.  We can’t really make lasting change without it.

It is without doubt an uncomfortable thing to do.  We would much rather gloss over or avoid assessing the wreckage that we cause as well as the small acts of ommission. We would rather blame circumstances or another person.  And yet, being human we all do and say hurtful things to the ones we love.  We fail to step up to the plate when our assistance is needed.  We avoid speaking up in defense of people who are being taken advantage of, and avoid speaking up even in our own self interest if it means rocking the boat or possibly getting disapproval.  We pollute the earth and often refuse even basic recycling because it is inconvenient or means making a small lifestyle change.  The result of all this defensiveness is that our infractions and our underlying guilt about it, like an untended basement, begin to accumulate the clutter of broken connections and resentments. 

Today presents an opportunity to accept responsibility and to clear out your failings of the past.  You might consider them more fully by journaling about them.  Allow yourself to feel the emotions that come with that.  Take the step of asking forgiveness, unless doing so would cause more injury to the other person involved.  Forgive yourself for your Self injury.  Take one small step to change a pattern of behavior which injures you, someone else or the planet.  And then release it.  Let go of it.  Mistakes are something that we DO; the mistake is not YOU.  You take the garbage from your house to the curb to be hauled away.  You don’t store it in your kitchen.  And so it is with your past mistakes.  Let them go.