SECOND CHANCES

One of my favorite childhood memories is the honest, “…when I grow up, I want to be…” discussions I used to have with friends, families and teachers. The sense of purposefulness that came with every imagination was exhilarating and fulfilling. Saying my dreams out loud felt like I could conquer the world

Decades later, a lot of things have changed. Some are exactly where they envisioned they would be, but some of us are on different paths, we are still figuring it out. Through life’s highs and lows, exposure, growth, you name it, we are redefining our goals and the missions we wish to serve. Whatever your story is, it is not yet over.

Those who know me know that in my kindergarten years I always said I was going to be a doctor, but somewhere along the way I lost that passion and I decided to pursue a different path and chase after a different dream. Instead of herbs and pills, I chose to use words to heal. It is really humbling to know that every word I write has a healing effect on someone else. It has taken a lot of growing, learning, unlearning, encouragement and self-assurance for me to believe that I am not a failure. I have learnt to let go of my guilt. At some point I felt like I owed it to myself and my parents to fulfill the childhood dream, but they always reminded me that they will always be proud of me and cheer me on. To this day, they have always taken the front row seats on every adventure I take on.

“The trillion-dollar man”; Dan Pena, came from a very humble background. He was a very rebellious child and he always got into trouble. He was arrested several times and even expelled from several schools. The society tried to help but it didn’t work. Eventually, everyone around him wrote him off. He turned a new leaf over when he joined the army. He made great strides and his efforts were recognized and rewarded. This is how he found his new passion. The entrepreneur in him was born when they least expected it. He found his passion was while he was serving.

I have no idea what will become of our kids and the future generations, but I hope we will never give up on them. I hope we will embrace every part of their journeys; the highs and lows. I hope our love for them will always be greater than their missteps. We know that they will err here and there and we also know that we can choose to stand by them as the rebuild and rediscover themselves.

The prodigal son knew he had sinned and he deserved to be punished for his sins, but he also knew that his father’s love was greater than any sin, so he went back to his father to ask for forgiveness. We ask God to forgive us every day and we are expected to reciprocate that. No-one is perfect, we all deserve second chances.