About Second Chances...
For others and ourselves
It’s not easy to want to extend second chances to people who’ve broken trust with us just as it’s not simple — or a given — other people will give us a second chance when we’ve — in their opinion — broken trust with them.
Of course it depends on the context of the specific human interaction or relationship.
So I have questions for you. When you do you offer a second chance to someone? And with what contingencies?
And when have you wanted a second chance and received it?
What did it mean to you?
When haven’t you received the second chance and how did you emotionally process it and then rationally analyze it?
Take a moment if you like to think on it. Then continue reading.
Sometimes we might be “deserving” in our minds of a second chance and it doesn’t come our way. Other times we might not be “deserving” and we get one anyway.
Realize that people are betting on us as a bet and gamble just as we do with people. It’s important to respect, through action, that bet being placed.
Real work must be done to earn even a little trust and another opportunity sometimes to prove ourselves. Good news: it can usually be accomplished. Yet it might very well take specialized knowledge and smart, sustained, thorough efforts to achieve.
In such instances, it will require knowing precisely what to do, being willing to do it and diligently, with perseverance, doing so.
This plan, commitment and character creates a road to being given a level of restoration and time to show again that we’re worthy off that second chance.
Michael Toebe is the founder and specialist at Reputation Quality, serving and helping successful individuals and organizations further build reputation as an asset or ethically, responsibly protecting, restoring or reconstructing it.