by Tammy Attama

Created on: August 03, 2011

     Second chances arrive every day.  Each present moment is another opportunity to make a new choice.  Every new choice is a door to change your life one baby step at a time.  It is the beauty of living in the now. 

     Most of us, whether we are aware of it or not, make choices based on past decisions and outcomes.  "This worked for me last time.  Let me try again."  "Oh, no, that will never work.  It didn't work last month when so and so did it."  We are almost always gauging our success and failures by a broken ruler.  Essentially people are doing what the human race has always done and getting what it has always gotten, much of the same. 

     What are the key ingredients to a second chance in life?  First, make each decision from a clean slate.  Erase the past.  Erase what family or society says or will say and listen to your heart as if it were the only authority there is because it alone holds the key. 

     Trust is important and if you are always second-guessing yourself then you are not trusting.  Do not let one single uncertainty enter your brain.  The mind is like a super computer, a very efficient processor, but it only has the information at hand to reference.  It matters little whether this information was inputted either consciously or subconsciously.  When in doubt, the mind will search its archives (the past) to see what has it done before.  It will mimic previous actions, reactions, and outcomes unless it has new data.

     This brings us to the next step. Where do you get new knowledge or, better yet, wisdom?  There are certainly libraries full of books on anything you can think of and with the Internet there isn't a shortage on information.  These are helpful once the direction is known but what about if it isn't known?   

     It all starts with you.  Take some time every day to sit quietly and go within.  If you would like, ask God or whomever you believe in, "This is what is going on.  What do I do now?" and then listen.  How can God answer if the time is not taken to hear a reply?  An immediate response may not come so be prepared to pay attention all throughout your day. 

     Also don't put limits on the answer or how it is delivered.  A reply may come in a variety of forms:  a conversation accidentally overheard while you were in line at the supermarket, a bumper sticker, a license plate, or even a billboard.  A friend may even call you out of the blue and have something completely relevant to your query to share.  God can use anything and anyone to answer you.  

     Finally do your part and let go.  This means making every effort to do anything you are capable of doing but also knowing when to walk away and leave it alone.  This may be the hardest part of all but the most crucial.  God works in His time, not yours. 

     On this journey there may be lots of trials.  Some people will try and bring you down where you've always been because they are comfortable with you there.  Love them and yourself enough to let them be.

     Most importantly, you must never, never give up.  You are a spark of the divine.  You are love.  You were born to be great so make your own second chance and be whom you truly are.  

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