one good return deserves another

we recently returned from the high school summer retreat where we focused on a hebrew term "t'shuvah" which literally means "return". However, we often read this translated as repent. We get this idea of turning from our sins, and this is partially true. But the idea of T'shuvah is more about turning toward something/someOne than turning away. It is a return to God and to our true selves. The thoughts of a Rabbi on t'shuvah are very helpful:

". . . . The prospect of teshuva frightens many of us, because we consider it a calumny against who we already are. The English term "repentance" implies that I am a despicable sinner, loathsome in my own eyes and in the eyes of God, sullied by my actions, like a filthy, smelly vagrant in need of a bath.
Rebbetzin Tzipora Heller points out the true Jewish attitude toward teshuva: Not, "How wicked I am because I did that," but rather, "How could someone like me have done something like that?" Teshuva is an affirmation, not a rejection, of who we are on the deepest level. Rather than being characterized by our lowly actions, we repudiate our lowly actions as being unworthy of the holy souls we inherently are.
We cry on Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur when we reflect on what we could have been, when we compare our majestic potential to our shabby reality. Every one of us has the potential to be spiritually great, to perfectly accomplish our unique task in this world, to valiantly meet our challenges, and to dexterously fix our shortcomings. On the High Holydays, we reflect on the perfected vision of ourselves, and cry over the mediocrity we permitted in its place.
* We could have been magnanimous. Instead we were petty.* We could have been generous. Instead we were stingy.* We could have been honest. Instead we told self-serving lies.* We could have buoyed up others with kind words. Instead we wounded them with deprecations.* We could have esteemed our parents for their ongoing contribution to our lives. Instead we made them feel useless and outdated.* We could have made our homes sanctuaries of love and peace. Instead we degenerated into bickering and blaming.* We could have spent our spare time studying the profundities of the Torah. Instead we opted for cable TV.* We could have become the person God created us to be. Instead we settled for a mediocre imitation."

WOW. I hope this is what students discovered this weekend. I hope they were encouraged that God desires them to become the persons they really are and that t'shuvah is the act of removing from themselves all the falseness of identity that weighs them down. May t'shuvah provide freedom to be fully ourselves, sons and daughters of God.