Second Chances
Do we take advantage of second chances in life? It's very rare that we get an opportunity or another attempt to rectify our mistakes
CULTURE&LIFE
Second Chance in Life
How many of us know when the opportunity comes knocking? And, do we grab it to rectify something after failing earlier? A Blemish, misstep, or weakness to be overcome. This is a story, and its impact, insights and reality.
Image Source: Microsoft Designer Image Creator- Generated with AI.
The Story
One day, in an extended session class, a student got up and worriedly informed his teacher that he was unable to locate the expensive watch given by his father as a birthday present. He told the teacher that his watch had been stolen now. The surprised teacher asked how can it be stolen now. The student informed the teacher that he had left his watch on his desk during the recent ten-minute in-class mix-and-mingle break session and when he came back, he did not see it.
The puzzled teacher sternly informed the student not to leave such expensive things unattended. He knew that the mystery of the missing watch still had to be resolved, especially considering that none of the students had ever left the classroom nor anyone had come in. After deliberation, he decided that no one should know who stole the watch. He asked all the students to stand in a line, tie handkerchiefs around their eyes, and place their right hand on the shoulder of the student ahead.
The Culprit
The teacher found the watch in one of the student's pockets after checking all the students. He asked everybody to remove their blindfolds and return to their seats, handed over the watch to the boy to whom it belonged, and continued the class normally. It was a stressful two to three days for the boy who had stolen the watch, worried that his secret would be known. The days went by and later, the students left the college to pursue their careers.
After many years, during a college reunion, the boy who had stolen the watch, now a successful businessman, approached his teacher and thanked him for not revealing his identity and informed him that he was alive and successful today due to the teacher's generosity. The surprised teacher, who had forgotten the incident, remembered and said, 'I did not know it was you!' because I also blindfolded myself during the search. "I did not want to think less of any of my students!". The astonished student said, Sir, You saved my life. I had decided to take commit suicide, had my nefarious action been made public. You gave me a second chance & here I am today due to your wisdom and wise action.
The Insight
This is indeed amazing. Knowing someone's mistake and ignoring and forgiving them. Allowing that person to save his self-respect and continue to live with dignity. Knowing that a mistake was committed, yet allowing the individual to become better by not pointing a finger at him, by giving him a second chance!
Todays World
In today's world, where everyone is finding faults with anyone and everyone around them, finding faults with their parents, with siblings, with friends, in their personal life. Finding issues with their boss, and colleagues in the workspace.
If not these, then pointing fingers at society, the Government, or even the country has become commonplace and a bad habit.
Forgiveness & Generosity
Don't we need an Individual like the teacher, who is willing to forgive? Being magnanimous?
What does it take to stifle our pettiness and not be spiteful? Haven't we all been in situations, where we thought that we would have bettered ourselves had we gotten a second chance?
Let's strive to give someone a 'second chance', the opportunity to become better. The need to go one-up in this competitive driven world is so inherent that people have lost sight of being kind and sensitive. Being sensitive and kind is a habit to be cultivated during the early days of childhood, a duty of parents to inculcate these values, and much more, so that, growing up, we become kind and considerate.
A quote from Mahatma Gandhi - 'The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is an attribute of the Strong'
By nature, every human being is strong. We need to find the courage and strength to be magnanimous. Let's think better of ourselves, be humble, and modest, and practice giving ourselves and others a 'Second Chance'.
Reality
Can we exemplify such an action in real life? Is it possible? Yes, maybe, and maybe not, depending on the situation. The moral of the story teaches us to be magnanimous, kind, and considerate. When we practice, we should also be wise enough to know when we should use these principles and when we should not.
Given life's complexities and myriad possibilities, it's a tough call to make. The teacher in the story recognized that the steal was impulsive, done suddenly, during the short break, with so many students around. He also recognized that the person was young, at an age where punishment would have left a harsh life-lasting memory and scars that would be difficult to recover from, with no future to look forward to. In a worst-case scenario, the boy could easily have been inadvertently chosen an illegal occupation.
The bright side of the story shows that the boy understood his mistake. He chose to use the opportunity to improve himself righteously.
No matter what, everybody deserves a second chance. Everybody should learn to be magnanimous and, at the very least be kind and considerate.
Image Source: Microsoft Designer Image Creator- Generated with AI.