Second chances

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfrvyYyBDKc

This Lifehouse song ("Whatever It Takes") has such a great message, so I have to share it! Everyone deserves a second chance, a chance to change, especially if they care enough to actually try hard enough to make things better. Sometimes, we may give people a chance and they don't change, but this could be for one of two reasons:

1) They didn't really care enough to do anything different and didn't try to truly change themselves or how they relate to us -- and when we look into our gut, we feel that they probably will never change (at least with respect to us, in the way we need them to). In these circumstances, it is understandable to protect our hearts from these people and somewhat shut them out.

2) They did in fact try to change, but were unable to do so for reasons outside of their control -- understanding the choice in theory, but not really having the ability to fully choose in practice. These people can still hurt us and continue old patterns, but when we look into our gut, we feel that they do really care and can indeed change if circumstances improve. And if they can show us proof of actively fighting to change both themselves and their circumstances for the better, then we should give them another chance. When they truly do have the ability to choose how they relate to us and honor our friendship properly, then we will all benefit from the wonderful gift of second (or third) chances.