@skeletor

The word "repent" comes from the Latin "repaenetere", which literally means "to rethink", decide what went wrong, and do better next time.

The Greek equivalent "metanoia", literally something like "thinking about thinking", usually translated as "changing one's mind", also implies trying again.

The Hebrew root behind all of those, "teshuvah", means to "return" to your roots as an intrinsically good person, and try again.

Or, as the playwright Samuel Beckett put it: "Try again. Fail better next time." It's a process of continuous improvement, not sudden success.