Let’s Stop Dragging Yesterday Into Today

“Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day. You shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.”

…and honestly? It might just be the emotional life raft we all need right now. I mean, how many of us (myself included) crawl into bed at night replaying every awkward thing we said, all the chores we didn’t get to, and that one tiny typo we posted online that nobody but us even noticed?

Emerson’s basically yelling from the 19th century, “Stop marinating in your screw-ups!”

The Blunders Happen (And They Usually Don’t Matter)

Let’s be real: some blunders and absurdities creep in pretty much every single day. The other day, I sent an email to my editor with the subject line “Final Manuscript!!!” (three exclamation points… why??) and then immediately realized I had attached the wrong file. Like, instead of my perfectly polished draft, I attached a version with half-written scenes and notes like “INSERT SOMETHING CLEVER HERE.”

Did I panic? Yes.
Did I crawl under my desk and think about moving to a remote island? Also yes.
Did anyone die? …No.

Emerson would probably shake his head, pat me on the back, and say, “Forget it as soon as you can, you dramatic fool.” (Okay, maybe he wouldn’t call me a dramatic fool, but I feel like the quote gives off that vibe.)

The Beauty of the Daily Reset

The best part of his quote is that final line: “You shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.”
That’s basically a fancy way of saying don’t drag yesterday’s drama into tomorrow. Burn it. Bury it. Yeet it into the sun.

Think about it—when you wake up after a good night’s sleep, fresh coffee in hand (or tea, if you’re one of those people), the morning always has this ridiculously hopeful energy. Birds chirping, sunlight sneaking through the blinds, everything smelling a little like possibility (and maybe toast). And yet we often ruin it by immediately remembering we forgot to answer Carol’s text or that we tripped over our own feet in front of the neighbors. Why do we do that to ourselves?

Real Examples (Because It Helps)

• You binge-watched a show instead of writing yesterday? Cool. Yesterday is gone. Write today.
• You said something kinda dumb in the group chat and now you’re replaying it in your head? Delete the memory. Your friends probably forgot about it 4 seconds after reading it.
• You ate half a cake at midnight and now you’re convinced you’ve ruined your diet forever? Nope. That was yesterday. Today is salad (or cake again, if we’re keeping it real).

The “Too High a Spirit” Mindset

I love that phrase. “Too high a spirit.”
Like, get yourself so full of optimism, caffeine, and “I got this” energy that your past mistakes literally can’t latch onto you. They try, but they just slide right off because your vibe is too strong. Think of it like wearing emotional Teflon.

What if, instead of waking up and thinking, “Ugh, I messed up yesterday,” you think, “Okay, today is wide open. Let’s see what nonsense I can turn into something awesome”?
(And your new nonsense? That’s tomorrow’s problem. Circle of life.)

So yeah…

Honestly, I kinda want to frame this quote and stick it on the fridge. Or tattoo it on my forehead backwards so I see it every morning in the mirror (a bit extreme, maybe). It’s such a great reminder that we don’t have to carry yesterday like a heavy backpack full of embarrassment and regret.

Drop the backpack. Step into tomorrow like a raccoon breaking into a trash can—confident, fearless, and mildly chaotic… but in a good way.

Here’s to starting tomorrow with ridiculously high spirits!