Never Beyond: My Own Reflection

Image from the POTSC blog entry titled, "More Than Your Mistakes".

I love when stars and planets align, when seemingly unrelated events connect in a way to enhance what is being spoken into life. Such a thing occurred these past few days with my own reflection of 2011, an exercise we went through just today for our college group at church (shout out to SWAG!) and the latest addition to People of the Second Chance's "Never Beyond" poster series (see image above). The beginning of a new year offers the opportunity to process and sort through the obstacles that can keep us from realizing our infinite potential.

Saving my reflection for the wrap up, I'll start with the exercise. Our guest leader, Taryn, passed out compacts to the students (amused and glad to see the boys treat the compacts as totally foreign objects) and had them write character traits that annoy them onto the mirrors. The exercise was meant to encourage the students to reflect on why these traits annoy them and to assess whether or not they see the traits in themselves. Some of the traits that came to my mind were closed mindedness, lack of courtesy and being easily defeated. While I didn't necessarily see these traits in myself, I know I work at trying to fight them off. I attributed the negative feelings to past hurts. Whether experiencing them first hand or witnessing these traits inflicting pain on others, it is the pain that leaves emotional scarring. The scars ensure the pain will not be easily forgotten.

Staying with the exercise of looking at myself in the mirror, the latest "Never Beyond" post from POTSC offered this:

"Take a look at that mirror and ask yourself: Was 2011 a year of regret?  Of doubt, fear, guilt, and non-forgiveness?  Has it gone even farther back that that?  If so, then it’s time to look in that mirror again and ask yourself a different question: ”Who would you give a second chance?”"

Sometimes the person most in need of a second chance is the person in the mirror.

" Let 2012 be the year you give yourself permission to take that second chance."

My hope for 2012 was addressed in my previous blog entry, "More Than Conquerers". In it I said that if 2011 was about winning, then let's make 2012 about restoring. An addendum to that I'd like to make is that we should also look to be restored in our mission to restore. As we look to build and rebuild relationships, families and communities, we should also take time to find restoration for ourselves. After all, isn't restoration what second chances are all about?

"You are a person of infinite potential.  You are a person of a fresh start.  You are People of the Second Chance."