Ash Wednesday: A Time For Reflection

Repentance; is it about feeling guilty or is it something more positive, something that can be channelled toward making better decisions going forward?

It is Ash Wednesday tomorrow. For many it’s a time for giving up something, whether it’s biscuits or beer, for 40 days. A test of willpower, yes, but depriving ourselves of something we like and perhaps should have less of isn’t where it ends.

Reflection can be incredibly positive. Failing can be borne if it is accompanied by self-awareness and a resolution to never stop trying.

We can’t fix all the wrongs in our lives, at work or in the wider world, but we can remain resolute in our aim to keep trying. Trying to make fewer mis-steps, to learn from those we have made, to walk a mile in the other person’s shoes before taking decisions that will affect them.

None of this stops the brave or the bold or the powerful doing what they do, nor should it, it just means that there is due consideration for outcomes.

We could all cite examples of ill-considered decisions from history, from our own political climate in the UK as we draw closer to seismic change, or in countries afflicted with war or ruled by corrupt powers. Examples of decisions that have been ill thought-out and with catastrophic results. But we know all of that already. Just as we know ourselves.

I hope that tomorrow will spark something bigger than 40 days of abstinence; something that stays with us all for our lifetimes. Change is coming. We have to consider all of it and all of those affected by it. The human race is where it is because it is good at team working.

In this time of uncertainty what we have to remember is that, whatever ‘tribe’ we are in, all tribes belong to the bigger world community. It’s about consequences and, in my experience, nothing feels better than a great outcome — for everyone.