A REAL Fresh Start

How many times have you decided that you were going to get "a fresh start" with X thing.  Maybe its a career, relationship, diet, lifestyle etc., but regardless of whatever it is there is something compelling you to start over.  You're feeling psyched, motivated and ready to take on the world.  Then something odd happens where one day you realize that you are in the exact same (or very similar) situation that you've already experienced.  How did this happen?  How did I wind up here again?  What happened to my whole "fresh start" approach?  You suddenly feel like Lindsay Lohan on her third failed attempt at sobriety after half a year in rehab.  (Please note I am not bashing Lindsay, she just serves as a great illustration of my point.  In fact Lindsay I'd like to thank you for helping clarify this point to my readers so accurately.)  Anyhow, so now it turns out that this fresh start was really just you repeating the same scenario.  Maybe there were a few new parts of the situation, but overall it's the same.  So was this really a fresh start?  Fresh indicates new, untested, not yet experienced or tried methods, strategies or paths you would take when dealing with a situation.  If you said you were going to get a fresh start with dating but ended up dating the same person as your previous relationship (with a different face or perhaps it was even the exact same person!) then clearly there's no fresh start there.  You were getting a fresh start in the job hunt, but as it turns out you applied the same methods to applying to positions as you had last time around- then no fresh start there either.  You were going to get a fresh start with dieting, but did the same diet and exercise plan then of course you did not get a fresh start.  A fresh start means you are taking a new approach or initiative to a situation; just because you let time go by does not mean anything is fresh (except the date on which you began to repeat these behaviors.)  So when you're on this whole fresh start kick make sure you are actually doing something "fresh," "new," or "different."  You'll be quite  thrilled to get rid of the "deja vu" feeling and surprised at the results you'll see.