Love Month – February 7

I love a second chance.

I fail a lot. I’m not someone for whom new things come easy. Some of it’s due to fear, some is due to awkwardness, and some is due to a lack of confidence. Some is due to simply being an introvert who would rather stay with the comfy.

Nevertheless, I try to challenge myself on a regular basis to try new things. There were years of my life when I was not able to do this, so I am trying to make up for it.

Sometimes, though, I fail. Often, actually. I believe I know in my mind what I need to do, but it just doesn’t happen the way I envision. This can be in anything from trying a new skill to having a tricky conversation with someone.

I’ve found that even with big fat failures, there is usually room for a second chance. It’s quite easy with tasks, but even people will usually let you try again. Especially if they know you have regrouped and are changing your approach with them.

We need to learn from our mistakes, and that usually requires we try again. The plan probably should not be the same. In fact, the old adage “if you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ll always got” proves itself true more often than not.

But growth happens when we give it another try. When we try to figure out where we have gone wrong and learn from it.

I love a second chance (and any additional ones granted) because they remind me you don’t always get it right the first time, but this time things can be very different.

”If you have made mistakes, even serious ones, there is always another chance for you. What we call failure is not the falling down but the staying down.” – Mary Pickford