We Get More Second Chances Than We Deserve
As a therapist, I sit with people in their most raw and vulnerable moments. I witness regret that can’t be undone, conversations that will never happen, goodbyes that came too soon, and chances people thought they had more time to take.
In these rooms, life’s fragility becomes painfully clear. It’s made me realize that most of us are walking around with more time, more chances, and more opportunities than we know — or than we maybe deserve.
I’ve sat with clients who never said the thing they needed to say. Who waited for the perfect moment that never came. Who assumed they had more time to fix it, explain it, or be better.
And then something happened — an accident, a diagnosis, a death — and time ran out. The heartbreak isn't just in the loss. It’s in the unfinished business.
The apology unsent. The repair unmade. The grace not extended.
So this made me think about what second chances really are. They’re not just about being forgiven or being lucky. They’re reminders: You’re still here. You still can reach out. Try again. Be different. Heal.
You get another day to be more kind, more honest, more present, more awake in your life. When I look at the lives that have been cut short too soon, or the people who sit across from me and whisper, “I wish I had…,” I realize just how sacred it is to have another chance.
To say the hard thing. To soften your heart. To be vulnerable, to take risks, to come back to yourself. Not everyone gets that.
So many of us live in loops — waiting until we're less busy, less hurt, less overwhelmed to repair a relationship, change direction, or speak our truth.
What if the moment you’re in — reading this, thinking about the person you haven’t called, or the version of yourself you’ve been avoiding — is the invitation?
We get more second chances than we probably should.
Not because we’ve earned them, but because life — in all its mystery — keeps offering them anyway.
Don’t waste them. Don’t wait until the pain forces you to see what you could have chosen in peace.
Say the thing. Forgive them. Forgive yourself.
Begin again — today, while you still can.
I’m wondering, if life handed you a second chance right now — in a relationship, a habit, a decision — what would you do differently?