On Confessing

Sometimes we spend so much time praying we forget to speak to G-d. An octogenarian congregant where I officiate for Pesach commented that he feels the phrasing of our Prayer For The Welfare of the government is outdated. In a similar vein it might be suggested that our Yom Kippur confessionals are phrased in an old fashioned way. I am not suggesting that we alter the holy format. But it wouldn't hurt to talk to G-d on Yom Kippur in our own language about missteps we made this past year. In fact it might take us to the center of what the day is meant to be about.
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Jordana Horn writes about how last year in B'nai Jeshurun on the Upper West after their regular prayers they recited additional confessionals. She felt that these supplemental prayers were "moving and wanted to share some." And she adds her blessing: "I hope this is a year where we can run to make peace, with others and ourselves." Amen.
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We sin against You when we sin against ourselves and each other,

for our failures of truth, O God, we ask forgiveness:

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For projecting emotions we do not feel;

for using the sins of others to excuse our own;

for denying our responsibility for our own misfortunes;

for refusing to admit our share in the troubles of others;

for condemning in our children the faults we tolerate in ourselves;

for condemning in our parents the faults we tolerate in ourselves;

for passing judgment without knowledge of the facts;

for remembering the price of things but forgetting their value;

for teaching our children everything but the meaning of life;

for loving our egos better than the truth;

for not respecting God's image in every human being;

for running to do violence, yet crawling to make peace.

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For using people as stepping stones to advancement;

for confusing love and lust;

for withholding love to control those we claim to love;

for hiding from others behind an armor of mistrust;

for treating with arrogance people weaker than ourselves;

for acting condescendingly towards those whom we regard as inferiors;

for shunting aside those whose age is an embarrassment to us;

for giving ourselves the fleeting pleasure of inflicting lasting hurts;

for cynicism, which eats away our faith in the possibility of love;

for not respecting God's image in every human being;

for running to do violence, yet crawling to make peace.

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On a related note, these Al Cheits for singles, by Esther Kustanowitz, may be of interest to you.