Second Chances

For Sunday Scribblings...

Oh, but to have a second chance at love. A second chance at preparing for that exam. A second chance at the last pitch of the game. A second chance at parenting. A second chance at showing love for a parent. A second chance to give one last kiss goodnight.

Our lives are so full of longing for second chances. We dream of what might have been. If only...

We cannot change the past, though there are many circumstances that, given half a chance, we would choose to re-live. But we must accept the fact that we can't go back. We should-- no, we must, look to the future and learn from those experiences where we would have like to have had a second chance.

In much of life, there are no second chances. Does this cause one to feel weary? Take heart! Tomorrow brings a brand-new opportunity to make our first chances count. Like "they" say, you only get one chance to make a first impression. Let's live our lives with that philosophy, and as we make our inevitable mistakes, instead of feeling down-hearted, we can know that we tried our best and forge ahead toward the future with our newfound knowledge.

Heartache, pain, suffering, loss, regret... yes, we will experience all that and more. But there is a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, and if we focus on wishing for second chances, we will never see our riches. Without a second chance, we can still have love, laughter, acceptance, playfulness, and the richness of the people we call friends.