I love second chances.
Yesterday, I watched America’s Got Talent…cleaning and sorting in a sort of purging of my house, and using the TV show to amuse myself during the process. I’m just not designed to be a natural organizer, but I try. And I’ll use whatever strategies I can to stick with the process.
Anyways…last night was the night of second chances. 12 acts that were eliminated, sent home, told their dream was over, dejected and rejected—they were invited back to perform.
I’m a sucker for second chances. Everyone makes mistakes, and to determine a person’s possibility on a single “shot”…seems unfair.
So, tonight, folks that didn’t quite cut it and folks that messed up big time…forgot their words, fell off and crashed…got a second chance. And it was a vote for hope.
Like, Andrew, who forgot the words and stood mutely when he was in Las Vegas…he knocked it out of the park yesterday. He’s a bit of a self proclaimed “freak”…not accepted by his peers or community, had only sung in the bathroom…collapsed under the pressure and was eliminated.
But the judges saw the potential behind his “blanking”, and let him come back and sing…and he was phenomenal…and there was redemption. It was a vote for hope…it was like a little boost to all of us who have messed up something big despite our best efforts…that we can get another chance and do better.
Then there was Cristin Sandu…he fell as part of a difficult balancing act. He almost did something incredible, and literally, fell just short. He fell again yesterday…but the judges showed him respect and admired his abilities…and though disappointed, he left walking tall.
There’s something about someone believing in you when you’ve blown it…and letting you get out there to prove that you’re better than that. It doesn’t mean you go on to be perfect, but it means you go back out there, and do your best…that you “give it another go”…and efforts are acknowledged and admired…and successes are celebrated.
In the month after I got my driver’s license as a teenager, I hit a bus. A. BUS.
My fault. It’s pretty hard to hit a bus…cuz you’d think they’d be hard not to notice. But I pulled that off.
Front fender pretty bashed/scraped…and the timing was bad. Would you believe that it happened two days after my grandma died…two days before the funeral?
My parents weren’t thrilled, but as I recall, they told me they were happy I wasn’t pleased, and I think they may even have acknowledged that mistakes happen. I felt TERRIBLE and I cried and cried.
My parents got the car fixed, and let me use it again. I don’t remember any hesitation or concern. Once it was fixed, when I needed to use it, I asked, and they let me. It was a vote of hope.
There’s something redemptive about having faith placed in you after you’ve messed up. That’s what happened on America’s Got Talent…12 acts…over and over again…in their interviews talked about how meaningful it was to have their dream over, and then have one more chance because someone saw something in them that deserved another chance.
That word, redemption, came up a bunch yesterday in the show. I love redemptive experiences…acts that allow people a “do-over”, a chance to do better…and then seeing them do better. Happens in my office frequently.
I get to see people get a second chance to do better…I get to see them actually put the effort in to do better, to break patterns, to be more responsive in a relationship, to ask for trust and then to deliver on it. To say “I’m sorry” instead of getting defensive in a way that completely transforms the experience; to bring flowers to the other for “no special reason” for the first time ever; to take a deep breath and say, “Tell me more” instead of walking away–because the other dared to risk conversation after being hurt…to get to hear these redemptive stories…well, it shivers me with goodness.
To get a front row seat on redemption…how cool is that. My job is awesome.
Write a Comment