Fresh Start

“So I packed my things and ran

Far away from all the trouble

I had caused with my two hands”

Mistakes are inevitable because people aren’t perfect. We make the wrong decisions all the time and there’s consequences for our actions. It depends on the situation, but most importantly, it depends on how we work on fixing our mistakes. I’ve messed up countless times in my life, but not all of them are regrets. The difference between regrets and mistakes, in my perspective, is that regrets are wishing you would have done something differently while mistakes are errors caused by poor reasoning, carelessness, or lack of knowledge or experience. Mistakes can cause regrets, but it’s important to learn from your mistakes to prevent any future regrets.

You can’t always hold on to or live in the past. You can’t dwell on the what ifs. You have to learn to accept what has happened in your life and move forward. Holding on will just drag you down farther in life. You won’t be able to accomplish everything you had planned to and you lose the motivation you once had. Every day is a new day with new opportunities being presented. If you are too focused on the past, you’ll miss out on what is happening in the present. By the time you reach the end of the day, you want to be able to reflect and be satisfied by what you have done. If you’re not satisfied, then you should learn from your mistakes and be prepared to face similar situations later in life.

However, it’s important to realize that some of the misfortunes in our lives aren’t our faults. Certain situations don’t have one specific person to blame; they are accidents. They were unavoidable and some may refer to it as fate. Regardless, these things shouldn’t be held on to. Oedipus, the mythical Theban king who unknowingly killed his father and married his mother, is an example of a victim of “fate.” He was supposed to be killed as an infant due to a prophesy, but was taken in by another king, Polybus, instead. Oedipus grew up thinking that Polybus was his father and when the day came where he heard of a prophesy that he would kill Polybus and marry his supposed mother, Oedipus fled his home. While wandering, he came across a group of men that forced him off of the trail. Oedipus, being short tempered, killed all of them and continued on his way. Oedipus freed the Thebans from the Sphinx and became King, marrying the prior king’s wife. Later in the story, Oedipus discovers that among the group he had killed was his real father and that the prophesy had become true. There was no way Oedipus could have known that the man he killed was his real father because he had been lied to his entire life.

Oedipus was disgusted and blinded himself as a punishment for what he had done. Nothing he had done was his fault though. If he had known who his true parents were or if he hadn’t become so enraged and killed all of the men, things MIGHT have turned out differently. This is an example of creating different scenarios and asking “what if…?” What had happened to Oedipus was unfortunate because it was unavoidable. Oedipus has his flaws, but his anger cannot be blamed for the tragic events of his life. Once his wife (or should we say mother?) commits suicide, he decides to exile himself. He wants to live miserably because he feels as if he deserves it. He wants to run away from the damage he has done and stop hurting the people he cares about.

When you become too overwhelmed with regrets or mistakes, it might be best to just start over. Clear your head of everything that has happened and forget everything. Empty your mind and decide that things will be different this time. You won’t have to worry about what happened last time because everything is brand new. Getting a fresh start is a blessing. You have the chance to do things all over again, but this time, you can do them right, or at least in a way that you’ll be happy with. In “Mountain Sound”, the beginning of the song talks about leaving everything behind and just running away from all of the troubles that someone is faced with. Obviously, running away isn’t always a solution, but it’s possible to start from scratch and make a change in your life to prove to yourself that you won’t make the same mistake. In the end, your happiness is all that matters.