About Face

As far as the east is from the west, so has He removed our transgressions from us. (Tehillim 103:12) 

A person can return in Teshuva within a short amount of time...'As far as the east from the west' - this is not far at all; one only has to turn around and he will be facing the west, 'so has He removed our transgressions from us.' - Rav Moshe Sofer (Chasam Sofer)

I found this comment on the verse from Tehillim to be so very encouraging through various moments in my life when things looked very bleak. One of the biggest obstacles to change stems from the fact that it appears so daunting; we know that it involves incredible effort and strong will, and it seems like it will take forever to make progress, which is very discouraging.

However, we know that while there is an intensity of effort, change does occur very quickly. It may be subtle, and only manifest itself in certain nuanced ways, but the moment that we decide to change, and we begin the journey back, something starts to take hold. Despite setbacks and obstacles, we must keep in mind that we are heading in the right direction...