Second Chances…

I have been thinking a lot about second chances lately. We often talk about giving other people second chances, but we don’t talk nearly enough about giving them to ourselves.

A second chance can look like starting over. It can look like returning to something we neglected. It can be deciding that a difficult chapter does not get to write the ending of the story. For me, it has meant looking at my life and asking what I want the next part to feel like.

Painting entered my life at exactly the right time. I didn’t know that when I painted my first canvas. I simply knew I loved it. Looking back, I see that it gave me a piece of myself before I even realized how much I would need one.

Now, when I stand in front of the easel, I feel possibility. A canvas can be painted over. A mistake can become part of the landscape. A dark area can make the light more dramatic. None of those things erase what came before. They simply change what happens next.

I don’t believe second chances require us to become entirely different people. I am still me. I still love deeply. I still worry. I still take care of people. I still overthink things. But I am learning to take care of myself too.

Maybe that is my second chance. Not to become someone new…but to finally make room for the person who was there all along.