For the past couple of months, my life has looked a lot like the world’s least inspiring fitness montage.
You know the kind in movies where the hero gets stronger, faster, and more determined? Yeah…this was the opposite.
Recently I’ve been battling chronic bronchitis. And when I say coughing, I don’t mean a polite little throat-clear. I mean a cough strong enough to break ribs and pull muscles. For six weeks.
SIX. WEEKS.
I didn’t sleep for four of those weeks because every time I laid down, the coughing started all over again. Eventually the doctor prescribed antibiotics, and slowly—very slowly—the cough started to subside.
I was finally starting to feel like a human again.
Then my family got the super flu. And guess who followed right behind them?
Yep. Me.
So, for nearly seven weeks I was sick, exhausted, and more than a little frustrated. What made it even harder was that right before all this started, I had just “graduated” my workouts to heavier weights and more challenging exercises. I was proud of myself. Like, really proud. Cue the imaginary pat on the back.
Then BAM.
Illness after illness rocked my boat, my body, and my routine. As I lay there feeling miserable, the thought kept running through my head: “I’m going to have to start over…again.”
If you’ve ever had to rebuild something in your life, you know that feeling. It’s discouraging. It feels like all the effort you put in somehow got erased. You finally get momentum, and then life throws a wrench into the gears.
Maybe for you it wasn’t sickness.
Maybe it was divorce.
Maybe it was grief.
Maybe it was job loss, financial stress, or a season where everything just seemed to unravel.
Starting over can feel exhausting. That’s exactly where my mind was headed when the Holy Spirit gently interrupted my little pity party.
The whisper was simple:
“Daughter, you get to start over again.”
Not have to. Get to.
That one shift completely reframed my perspective. The truth is, starting over is actually a privilege. Think about it.
If you’re starting over, that means you’re still here.
You still have breath in your lungs.
You still have an opportunity to rebuild, grow, learn, and move forward.
There are people who would give anything for another chance to start again.
And here we are…with another chance.
Psychologists talk about something called “cognitive reframing.” It simply means changing the way we interpret a situation. Instead of seeing something as a failure or loss, we begin to see it as a challenge, opportunity, or new chapter.
Research in resilience shows that people who practice this kind of mindset recover from setbacks faster and maintain better emotional health over time. In other words, perspective isn’t just spiritual wisdom—it’s backed by science.
Our brains respond to the stories we tell ourselves. If the story is, “Everything I worked for is ruined,” we feel defeated.
BUT if the story becomes, “This is a new beginning,” our attitude—and our energy—changes.
The situation may be the same. But the lens we look through is different. And perspective is powerful.
The Bible is full of people who had to start over.
- Joseph started over after betrayal and prison.
- Ruth started over after loss and widowhood.
- Peter started over after denying Jesus.
- Even Israel started over again and again as God patiently restored them.
God is in the business of redemption. Restoration. In other words, new beginnings.
He doesn’t look at our setbacks and say, “Well, that’s the end of the story.” He says, “Let’s rebuild.”
The beautiful thing about starting over is that you don’t actually start from nothing. You start with experience. You start with wisdom you didn’t have before. You start stronger in ways that aren’t always visible yet.
When I eventually get back into the gym—and I will—I won’t truly be starting from scratch. My muscles remember. My body remembers. My discipline remembers.
The same is true in life.
After divorce, you’re not the same person you were before. You’ve learned things about strength, boundaries, faith, and perseverance that you didn’t know before.
After grief, your heart may be tender, but it’s also deeper.
After illness, you appreciate health in ways you never did before.
Starting over doesn’t erase your progress. It builds on it. Sometimes the restart is simply part of the process.
- Athletes restart.
- Businesses restart.
- Marriages restart.
- Faith journeys restart.
And sometimes God allows the restart because He’s doing something deeper than the original plan. So, if you find yourself facing a “start over” moment today, let me gently remind you of what the Holy Spirit reminded me.
You don’t have to start over. You get to.
You get another chance to rebuild your life with wisdom.
You get another chance to pursue health.
You get another chance to heal.
You get another chance to move forward with God leading the way.
And when the Lord is in your corner, a restart isn’t a defeat. It’s the beginning of something new.
The next time life throws you a hiccup—whether it’s illness, loss, or a major life shift—pause before frustration takes over.
Take a breath. Then remember:
With God’s help, we don’t just survive starting over.
We rise again.