"How can we make each day a new beginning?"

Abba Moses wondered, "How can we make each day a new beginning?" Abba Silvanus responded: "Discover who you are. Be sorry for your sins. Do not feel superior to anyone, nor feel smug about others' weaknesses. Refuse to be a malicious gossip. Discipline yourself until your spirit is gentle. Forgive. Do not hate anybody, even if they hate you. Never return slander for slander. Refuse to become upset when others lie about you. Do not let yourself think badly of anyone, even in the privacy of your heart. This is the peace that passes understanding, and it can be yours if you refuse to judge others. Remember, Jesus commanded: 'Do not judge, so that you may not be judged."' And when someone asked Abba Silvanus, "How did you become so wise?" he answered, "I don't open my heart to angry thoughts."

A monk visited Abba Poemen to ask, "Do you ever have bad thoughts? If so, what do you do about them?" Abba Poemen responded, "Bad thoughts are like clothes stored in a trunk or closet. Over time, clothes turn yellow, get brown spots, and eventually fall apart. Leave them there, and they rot on their own. It's the same with your ungodly thoughts. Do not act on them, and they will disappear." -Sayings of the Desert Fathers and Mothers - Benedicta Ward, ed.