Everyone deserves a second chance.
We all make mistakes in life, and if we are willing to change in order to right the wrongs of the past then we ought to be given the opportunity to move forward with a free spirit.
Life is too short to pass through encumbered by the weight of the suffering that our mistakes have produced.
Better to learn the lessons that those mistakes have taught us, align our behaviour with those learnings, and go about making a positive difference in the world.
Often it is difficult to move past the mistakes that we have made.
The people who those mistakes have affected aren't always ready and willing to let us off the hook.
Wanting us to continue to pay for our mistakes they refuse to forgive and forget, preferring instead to rub our faces in our errors and use the associated guilt as leverage to get something from us that they feel they are owed.
Sometimes though, we stay bound to our past mistakes, even after those people who have been negatively affected by them have forgiven us and moved on.
Nonsensically, we think that if we hold onto the guilt and shame long enough then we will be given permission to let go of them eventually, but what we fail to see with this approach is that guilt and shame only grow in their hold over us the longer that we hold onto them.
Wanting to be free of their destructive presence, we must offer ourselves forgiveness first.
Not waiting for someone else to offer it to us, we must take the initiative and run the five yards to redemption.
One man who has run a long distance in this respect is professional football player Michael Vick.
Once amongst the most popular and well paid players in the NFL, Vick's life and career were left in tatters after he was charged by a federal grand jury with illegal dogfighting.
Found guilty by the court, Vick was sentenced to 23 months in prison.
After serving 18 months behind bars, Vick was released and ordered to complete his sentence under house arrest.
Having to file for bankruptcy before his release, Vick had very little to come back to and his prospects for the future were not looking good either.
Offered a construction job by a friend that paid less in a year than what he previously earned in a week playing football, the better than good life that he had previously enjoyed seemed to be but a distant memory.
Believing that he still had what it took to play at the highest level, he offered his services to NFL teams with many of them declining, despite his immense talent, for fear of upsetting their fan bases who had openly ridiculed Vick during his trial for his appalling treatment of animals and his apparent lack of remorse.
Offered a one-year contract by the Philadelphia Eagles in 2009, none of his 1.
6 million dollar salary was guaranteed.
Having to work hard to prove himself on the field and off, he took small steps at first to earn back the respect that he had lost.
Given a greater role with the team as the season progressed, Vick would come to be acknowledged by his teammates and coaches at seasons end for his commitment to the principles of sportsmanship and courage.
Building on this success in the next season, Vick was elevated to the position of starting quarterback and thrived in the role, as he previously had with the Atlanta Falcons prior to his incarceration.
Going on to have what many consider to be his best year as a professional, Vick would cap it off with a string of awards that went a long way to showing how much progress he had made along the path to redemption.
Reaffirming this in the past month, Vick lobbied members of the U.
S.
Congress to pass the Animal Fighting Spectator Prohibition Act, a bill to prohibit attendance at organized animal fights.
Wanting others to learn from his mistakes, he wasn't afraid to lend his support to the cause, even though that would expose him to the ridicule of many people who had not yet forgiven him for his past behaviour.
Finding forgiveness in his renewed relationship with God, he would use the inner strength, forged by adversity and his subsequent healing, to serve the noble purpose of protecting the vulnerable animals that are used in these fights.
A demonstration of his spiritual maturation, it showed a genuine willingness on Vick's part to make good the wrongs of his past.
Not being able to change what he did, he does however have the power to produce positive change in the present and future.
Realizing this power by first taking responsibility for his harmful actions, he has proved himself worthy of a second chance.
Refusing to blame anyone else for his spectacular fall from grace, Vick maintains that going to jail was the best thing that ever happened to him.
Forcing him to really look at himself and the life that he was leading, he credits it as his turning point.
Liberated from his spiritual confinement in that dark and repressive environment, the groundwork was laid for the success that he would experience after being released from his physical confinement.
Only after Vick was liberated spiritually was his second chance worth anything.
Had he stayed the same trapped and tormented person after his release from prison, he would have continued to inflict the same harm that brought him to jail in the first place.
People do have the propensity to make amazing change in their lives.
Whether they are willing to do this difficult work is another matter.
For Vick, such a sudden and severe downfall was enough to get him to look within and ask the important questions that he was previously unwilling to answer.
It is one thing to be given a second chance and another thing to deserve one.
Second chances that are given freely hold no value and are easily squandered.
Better are they earned by paying a price.
Extending beyond money, it is the time and effort dedicated to our personal development that will enhance the quality of our contributions and the rewards which flow to those who we have an obligation to serve.
The animals that Michael Vick would have once exploited now will benefit from his call for their protection.
Why this has the potential to make a big difference is because of the path that Vick has taken.
Admitting to his mistakes and learning from them endows his voice with authority.
Experiencing the highs and lows that his choices brought him, his message is one that we would be wise to listen to.
Regardless of his high profile, his story has power in its ability to inspire transformation.
In a world where many doubt their worthiness to receive forgiveness, and thereby struggle to find it, Vick points the way with courage by his willingness to share of himself and his experiences.
For this, he should be commended.
A second chance is a precious chance.
Don't deprive yourself of it because of what others say you are not worthy of.
Conceived in love your worthiness is assured.
Unifying with spirit, you will experience forgiveness as an internal blessing.
Offer it to yourself and to others so that we may all have what it takes to traverse those final five yards to freedom.
We all make mistakes in life, and if we are willing to change in order to right the wrongs of the past then we ought to be given the opportunity to move forward with a free spirit.
Life is too short to pass through encumbered by the weight of the suffering that our mistakes have produced.
Better to learn the lessons that those mistakes have taught us, align our behaviour with those learnings, and go about making a positive difference in the world.
Often it is difficult to move past the mistakes that we have made.
The people who those mistakes have affected aren't always ready and willing to let us off the hook.
Wanting us to continue to pay for our mistakes they refuse to forgive and forget, preferring instead to rub our faces in our errors and use the associated guilt as leverage to get something from us that they feel they are owed.
Sometimes though, we stay bound to our past mistakes, even after those people who have been negatively affected by them have forgiven us and moved on.
Nonsensically, we think that if we hold onto the guilt and shame long enough then we will be given permission to let go of them eventually, but what we fail to see with this approach is that guilt and shame only grow in their hold over us the longer that we hold onto them.
Wanting to be free of their destructive presence, we must offer ourselves forgiveness first.
Not waiting for someone else to offer it to us, we must take the initiative and run the five yards to redemption.
One man who has run a long distance in this respect is professional football player Michael Vick.
Once amongst the most popular and well paid players in the NFL, Vick's life and career were left in tatters after he was charged by a federal grand jury with illegal dogfighting.
Found guilty by the court, Vick was sentenced to 23 months in prison.
After serving 18 months behind bars, Vick was released and ordered to complete his sentence under house arrest.
Having to file for bankruptcy before his release, Vick had very little to come back to and his prospects for the future were not looking good either.
Offered a construction job by a friend that paid less in a year than what he previously earned in a week playing football, the better than good life that he had previously enjoyed seemed to be but a distant memory.
Believing that he still had what it took to play at the highest level, he offered his services to NFL teams with many of them declining, despite his immense talent, for fear of upsetting their fan bases who had openly ridiculed Vick during his trial for his appalling treatment of animals and his apparent lack of remorse.
Offered a one-year contract by the Philadelphia Eagles in 2009, none of his 1.
6 million dollar salary was guaranteed.
Having to work hard to prove himself on the field and off, he took small steps at first to earn back the respect that he had lost.
Given a greater role with the team as the season progressed, Vick would come to be acknowledged by his teammates and coaches at seasons end for his commitment to the principles of sportsmanship and courage.
Building on this success in the next season, Vick was elevated to the position of starting quarterback and thrived in the role, as he previously had with the Atlanta Falcons prior to his incarceration.
Going on to have what many consider to be his best year as a professional, Vick would cap it off with a string of awards that went a long way to showing how much progress he had made along the path to redemption.
Reaffirming this in the past month, Vick lobbied members of the U.
S.
Congress to pass the Animal Fighting Spectator Prohibition Act, a bill to prohibit attendance at organized animal fights.
Wanting others to learn from his mistakes, he wasn't afraid to lend his support to the cause, even though that would expose him to the ridicule of many people who had not yet forgiven him for his past behaviour.
Finding forgiveness in his renewed relationship with God, he would use the inner strength, forged by adversity and his subsequent healing, to serve the noble purpose of protecting the vulnerable animals that are used in these fights.
A demonstration of his spiritual maturation, it showed a genuine willingness on Vick's part to make good the wrongs of his past.
Not being able to change what he did, he does however have the power to produce positive change in the present and future.
Realizing this power by first taking responsibility for his harmful actions, he has proved himself worthy of a second chance.
Refusing to blame anyone else for his spectacular fall from grace, Vick maintains that going to jail was the best thing that ever happened to him.
Forcing him to really look at himself and the life that he was leading, he credits it as his turning point.
Liberated from his spiritual confinement in that dark and repressive environment, the groundwork was laid for the success that he would experience after being released from his physical confinement.
Only after Vick was liberated spiritually was his second chance worth anything.
Had he stayed the same trapped and tormented person after his release from prison, he would have continued to inflict the same harm that brought him to jail in the first place.
People do have the propensity to make amazing change in their lives.
Whether they are willing to do this difficult work is another matter.
For Vick, such a sudden and severe downfall was enough to get him to look within and ask the important questions that he was previously unwilling to answer.
It is one thing to be given a second chance and another thing to deserve one.
Second chances that are given freely hold no value and are easily squandered.
Better are they earned by paying a price.
Extending beyond money, it is the time and effort dedicated to our personal development that will enhance the quality of our contributions and the rewards which flow to those who we have an obligation to serve.
The animals that Michael Vick would have once exploited now will benefit from his call for their protection.
Why this has the potential to make a big difference is because of the path that Vick has taken.
Admitting to his mistakes and learning from them endows his voice with authority.
Experiencing the highs and lows that his choices brought him, his message is one that we would be wise to listen to.
Regardless of his high profile, his story has power in its ability to inspire transformation.
In a world where many doubt their worthiness to receive forgiveness, and thereby struggle to find it, Vick points the way with courage by his willingness to share of himself and his experiences.
For this, he should be commended.
A second chance is a precious chance.
Don't deprive yourself of it because of what others say you are not worthy of.
Conceived in love your worthiness is assured.
Unifying with spirit, you will experience forgiveness as an internal blessing.
Offer it to yourself and to others so that we may all have what it takes to traverse those final five yards to freedom.
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