Spring: Fresh Starts

Fresh Starts

Where would we be without second chances?  I don't know anyone in this life who is without blame.  Everyone I've ever met has made mistakes.  Some more than others.  So, being given that ability to have a second chance is a pretty important life lesson.

Have you ever met someone who always seemed to be able to get away with anything and everything?  You know the people I'm talking about, there literally are people who seem to have a special shield around themselves protecting them for those times when they do wander off the straight and narrow.  It's almost as if they are "Untouchable".

It's often said that people who are in prison were just unlucky, they just happened to get "caught" for their mistakes.  I happen to be one of those people who without fail always gets caught if I choose to do wrong.  It just is how it's always been for me.

THAT used to make me angry.  However, looking back, I've had to suffer consequences for all my mistakes.  There was no "Get out FREE" card for my life.  Yet, I really appreciate having been made to be held accountable for the mistakes I've made.  Without those consequences I may not have ever made the right changes in my life and may still have been walking in darkness.

My son seems to have inherited the gift for being held accountable for his mistakes.  He's never been able to get away with mistakes he's made.  He's paid the price and suffered the consequences for his mistakes.  

I've discussed before how he and another kid from our neighborhood broke in a house, and were arrested.  Despite the fact that there were TWO boys there that day, only one kid got a bad reputation around our neighborhood.  That one mistake has followed my son for two years now and likely until we are able to move, will continue to follow him.

My son has been in boot camp for a month and was in a juvenile center for two months prior to that.  He had made a few too many mistakes and he had to suffer the consequences for them.  He sounds hopeful and he sounds like he's ready for some changes.

I'm hoping that this short stay in boot camp will have been enough of a wakeup call so that he knows what wrong choices can get to him.  I hope that he uses the past couple of months as a gift.  He's been fortunate to make some small, minor mistakes while he is still young.  If he takes this time as a gift for perhaps saving him from far larger mistakes on down the road, well then it was definitely all worth it.

It's impossible to go through your lifetime and not make a mistake.  I know this, because my Bible tells me that we are all sinners.  That there is NONE righteous.  So, it's how we deal with the things that we go through, how we deal with our second chances that determine who we become.

Life is a series of choices and learning opportunities.  Even myself, when I make stupid rash choices, I try to learn from those so that I can try not to make the same mistake.

In recovery you are taught that the definition of "Insanity" is repeating the same things and expecting different results.  

So with all of the flowers starting to bloom, and Spring in full swing for myself I'm going to look for the opportunities that my mistakes bring me and learn from those things.  I look forward to our "fresh start".