It's 2026: Wipe the Lens Clean

Did you already notice that I didn't say wipe the "slate" clean? It's an often used phrase for moving forward or moving past something, or choosing to go in a different direction, however, in any of those choices you may find yourself in exactly the same place as you started if you don't also have a change in your perspective: you must also wipe the lens clean as well. What does that even mean, you ask?

Have you ever had on a pair of glasses that you realized were pretty blurry because they needed to have the smudges wiped off so you could see things clearly? Sometimes in life we have to take time to evaluate how we are looking at our present and our futures. Unfortunately, we may be looking at much of what is going on with us through "smudges". Those SMUDGES may be our failures, smudges from things that just didn't work out, smudges of hurt, disappointment, grief and other reasons for feelings sadness, hopelessness and despair. These things are reality, and these things smudge our vision and how we choose to live, move and have our being in more ways than one.

Is this your year to make a decision to wipe the lens clean? Is this your year to be determined to find clarity and direction? Is this your year to wipe off the smudges of regret, fear and hesitancy, among other obstacles, blockages and distractions? Is this your year to finally say "Yes, I am going to have a new perspective, a positive view of what's ahead for me"? This absolutely can be the year that you take a clearer look at all of the potential that's ahead! Indeed, perhaps it's time for a lens check.

Dare to wipe off every smudge that has gotten in your way and dare to make some new moves. Dare to wipe off every tear that splashed onto your lens and caused you to stop believing in yourself and in the power you possess to make your future better than ever. Dare to do it! 

Slates cannot always be wiped clean, but the smudges certainly can. We have to take what we have experienced, both good and bad with us; those experiences very often matter when we go forward. Experiences are great teachers, but we don't have to carry every bit of residue, negativity, pain, hurt,  and smudge about those things into our new places in life and into our new way of thinking.

Look at your lens today as you begin this New Year, and make a decision to wipe off all the smudges that try to prevent you from the best that's to come. Wipe gently in some cases, wipe harder in others. Either way, keep wiping until you can see clearly and confidently toward better things for yourself and for your life. ~ S.R.F.