I have this blog I need to write on ‘Karma’ but I keep putting it off, and I am going to put it off again because I need to write this one about second chances.  Second chances are one of the best things in the world.

Most things deserve a second chance.  The child who loses their parents deserves a second chance to have parents.  The dog that was no longer wanted and was taken to the pound deserves a second chance.  Caviar deserves a second chance, so do olives, brussel sprouts, shrimp, lobster, and yes… even seaweed.  Maybe even that one pair of pants you bought that just didn’t feel right the first time you wore them deserve a second chance.

Some things don’t deserve a second chance;  Sticking your finger in a socket to see if it feels good, the Ford Pinto, 30,000 B.C., The Macarena, The Mullet, John Kerry, Windows Vista, anyone who intentionally took the life of a living child or has done other horrible things to children, and…… O.J. Simpson.

I’m sure we can all think of more things that don’t deserve second chances, but the point here is that most things do.  Second chances are a good thing, they can be a great thing, and in most situations you have nothing to lose, and everything to gain.  Who knows maybe 5 years later you find out you actually really love the taste of asparagus, if you don’t… so what?  You lose nothing… but if you do, you just added a great vegetable that is full of nutrients and the more of it you eat, the more weight you lose (yep that’s a fact).

But, that’s where the line usually needs to be drawn, at the SECOND chance.  If the second chance failed, then it’s time to give it up, let it go and move on to something else.  Of course as always there are exceptions.  Attempts at breaking bad habits deserve as many chances as you can stand giving them.  Your children deserve as many chances as they need, but hopefully you are helping them learn from their mistakes each time.  G-Dub  Bush deser…..              … no I’m kidding   You get the point though right?

The point is that great things come from second chances…  Like the kid who at 16 was drinking and driving and killed a person in an accident while he was drunk driving.  After serving 7 years in juvenile detention and prison he was paroled.  He got his high school diploma, went to college, and became an ER doctor and saved 100′s of lives, but that is not the point because if he was not there some other doctor would be.

The thing that happened was that he was driving down a back country road in the winter in the snow on his way to visit his family for Christmas and came across a wrecked car.  In the car was a family.  The father who was driving was DOA, the mother and the three children were all alive but were in critical condition.  The doctor called 911 but it was 25 minutes before rescue services and ambulances showed up at the scene.  During that 25 minutes the doctor did his best to keep the mother and 3 children alive.  One of the children died at the scene, and the mother died on the way to the hospital.  But two of the children lived.  Those two children probably would have bled or froze to death had that ‘murderer’ not been driving down that road that night.  Even if someone else had happened to be driving down the road they most likely would not have been a doctor and been able to do what needed to be done to save those lives.

‘OK, so what’ you say… ‘Coincidence’.  I agree, it was coincidence, it wasn’t fate or any silly thing like that, BUT those children’s lives WERE saved because someone was given a second chance whether it is coincidence or fate or whatever.  I don’t know if I could forgive someone for killing someone I loved in that manner, or if I could be human enough to want to allow them a second chance, but whether or not I could doesn’t matter.  What matters is that if it was me in that car accident and it was my children who might have froze (one of the worst possible ways to die) or bled to death in that car, I sure would be glad that guy got a second chance if he saved my kids.

On the flip side, you could say “what if that guy got out went and got drunk and drove again and killed someone else”.  Well, that could happen it is possible.  But that’s why the person only gets a SECOND chance.  That means the first time they are caught drinking and driving again, they go back to prison for life, the end no questions asked.

If you do something THAT STUPID once you might get away with calling it a stupid mistake.  If you do it twice, then your decision making is flawed, and you don’t deserve any more chances.  Now remember when I started out I said that some things don’t deserve second chances, and that’s true.  There is no point in giving something a second chance if it is blatantly obvious that a second chance will just result in disaster again.  But if there is a decent chance the second chance will turn out good… you have to give it a shot, especially if there isn’t really anything to lose (no lives at stake.. etc).

But, third chances are for fools…

Now I just wrote this, and I know if I read it and was in the mood to be argumentative I could argue points in this blog and tear holes through it.  Pay Attention: This blog is not about an exact science, nor is it completely literal.  It is meant to make an underlying point.  If you can’t grasp that, then do me a favor and forget you read this and just wait for the next one.  If you can grasp it, then think about giving out that second chance, but don’t be foolish enough to give or ask for a third one.

Have a great Halloween everyone!