Chances

chance- n - 1. the happening of events without apparent cause; luck 2. an unpredictable event 3. a risk or a gamble 4. a ticket in a lottery 5. an opportunity 6. possibility or probibility

second - adj. - 1. coming after the first 2. another of the same kind; other

Now that you have had your vocabulary lesson for the day. You knew I would get my sarcasm in here somewehere. :)

Chances. First. Second. Last. We have all heard them, we have all used them, and we have all given them. Baseball players have three chances to hit the ball before they strike out. Some parents give three warnings before punishing their child. They are all chances to get it right, to make it right before it's too late.

This morning as I got to work and opened up my internet as MSN loaded, I was reminded of how there aren't always second chances. Sometimes, you only get one chance to get it right.

My husband forces me (read asks me) if I want to watch Deadliest Catch, I pretend to be indifferent, but the entire show is really cool. It's like take the world to work day. Makes me look at crab in a whole new way. Anyway - last season, one of the Captians on one of the regular boats had a serious health scare. He had a blood clot in his lung. This isn't often something that you walk away from. He was told that his lifestyle had contributed to this problem. He was told to change his life - quit smoking - eat better - less stress. He attempted all of this, for about 24 hours. Then decided that he knew better than the doctor's, that he knew the bigger picture and that he would undoubtedly be given another chance. A few days ago, he found out differently as he suffered a major stroke and died. There was no third chance.

My dad had a heart attack in April of last year, which completely changed his life forever. He is retired at 52. Not by choice, but because of the damage that he suffered because of the heart attack. He attempted to change his lifestyle, but like anyone who has ever tried to do that, it is hard. He quit smoking, he had finally started watching what he was eating better. More than just paying attention to sodium. Until sometime around Thanksgiving. He and my mom have been under a lot of stress. They both quit smoking and they had smoked for 30+ years. My father had gotten over the grouchiness and was "normal" again. My mom - yeah, she was still in that grouchy no patience phase. They had been fighting and stressing - and decided to start smoking again, or kill each other. Hmmm...what do you think that the smoking is doing? Makes me wonder what his blood thickness would be reading now...after he has been smoking a few months again. After reading the story on MSN this morning, it got me to thinking - what chance is he on? Is this his second and will there be a third, or is this his last?

Thankfully those aren't questions that I know the answer too. That's between him and God. And while I agree that when it's your time to die, you are going to die, be it by heart attack, car accident, or breaking your big toe and it getting infected and dying from blood poisioning, or demons attacking. (whoa...been watching way to much Charmed.) It's his life, and his choice, and his chance. I do believe that God is like any other parent, he only gives you so many chances to get stuff right, and then he moves on. He already knows what you are going to do anyway.

We face chances all the time, at work, at home, at school, driving, eating (after you have had severe food poisioning that you nearly died from), health. How many chances have I wasted? How many have I screwed up? How many have moved on? How many times was there only one chance? My husband had a severe wreck, that changed the way he drives forever, is he working on his second chance, or his last? No one really knows. The important thing - not to waste them. Especially if it could be your last.

To read the story click here -----> Phil Harris - Deadliest Catch

"Never let the odds keep you from doing what you know in your heart you were meant to do."~ H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

"Progress always involves risks. You can't steal second base and keep your foot on first. "~ Frederick B. Wilcox