“Isn’t it nice to think that tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it yet?” ~L.M. Montgomery

Dear Universe,

I know everyone thinks of January as a fresh start and a month filled with new beginnings.  And for obvious reasons, it certainly is.

But what about February, I wondered?

It turns out many consider February a month of hope.  The month marks that winter is halfway over and spring is fast approaching.  There are also many promising rituals and superstitions associated with Valentine’s Day—whether you are spoken for or single.

While looking for some more insight into our second month of the year, I read that the word February derives from the Latin word Februarius, from Latin februare meaning to “purify.”

Naturally this got me very excited.

purify: verb: remove contaminants from; make ceremonially clean; i.e “a ritual bath to purify the soul.”

I feel like it’s fitting that February can be thought of as a month of purification.  Let’s face it.  There’s a lot of pressure put on January.  It’s the month when we are recovering from the hustle of the holidays and it’s the time when we are attacking our resolutions with gusto.

In January we feel like we will be these perfect versions of ourselves—the ones we dreamed up at the end of last year.  This person will be as productive as possible, and easily reach the goals we are working towards.

This person is obviously superhuman and never gets sidetracked, delayed or disgruntled.

For those of us who can’t believe January is already over and who haven’t started on those things we wanted to for the New Year, February is the ideal time to refocus.

February is the month when we can just be real and honest.  With four weeks of the New Year under our belt, things have started to settle down.  By now we’ve gotten into the swing of things, and can set more realistic expectations for the weeks ahead.

Even if you’ve had a stellar January, give yourself permission to reexamine what you really want to do and what still needs to get done.

Since it’s considered a month of purification, February seems like the ideal time to cleanse out anything that still remains from last year or anything in general that is in your life long past its expiration date.

“Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.” ~William Morris

This cleansing can be literal like an early spring cleaning to get rid of things that are no longer serving you.  Or maybe it’s a more spiritual cleanse: some meditating to clear your mind.

“It’s time for a spring cleaning of your thoughts, it’s time to stop to just existing it’s time to start living.” ~Steve Maraboli

January is over and that’s okay.

Make February another fresh start.  Make this month another opportunity to cleanse, purify and refocus exactly how you want this year to go.

Thanks for the reminder that it’s never too late to start again; it’s never too late to purify.

With Gratitude,

A