Who of us at one time or another has not wished for a second chance? We have all made mistakes, and we have all wished that we could go back and change them. The past is in the past and while it can, if we allow it to, affect our present and our future, there is no way to go back and change it. It has been said that each January 1st is a new chance to start over. We have conditioned ourselves to believe that this is the only time of the year that we can change. We make resolutions to change. We try to improve our lives. We sometimes succeed in these changes, but we often fail. I believe that it is a common human emotion to want to “wipe the slate clean” and begin anew.

However, if you think about it, change can occur at any time. It is just up to us to decide when that change will occur. Our lives have so many ways to mark the passing of time. We have a new year, a new month, a new week, and a new day. We are in many ways obsessed with marking the passing of time. Each of these time markers is a chance to start over. When you stop and think about it, every new day is a chance to “wipe the slate clean” and begin again. Actually, every hour, minute, or even second that goes by is a chance to start again. There are 86,400 seconds in one day. That is 86,400 chances to begin again and live the life that you are meant to live. I don’t know about you, but that kind of makes me feel a little freer. We don’t have to wait for a new day, or week, or month, or year to start again. We can just decide, “Hey, the time has come for me to change” and we can do it.

I do not believe that it is any coincidence that there is so much emphasis placed on time. I think God wants us to realize that we have numerous chances in this life to start again. We just have to decide when. Believe me, I know how difficult changing something can be, but it is like my dad always says, “It’s all in the want to.” We have to want to change. We have been given 86,400 chances in just one day to make the change, so we just have to decide when to do it. God can help us with the change. He really does want us to live the best life that we can live. He wants us to be at peace and to have hope. He wants to help us begin again. We just have to trust him. We just have to be determined to start over and to leave the past with its regret and mistakes behind us. Plus, look at it this way, if you mess up, you can fix it in the next second that comes.

So, let’s try to live each day and use each second, minute, and hour that goes by to its fullest and be committed to the change. It will make all of our lives better and bring us all more peace, and PEACE MATTERS.

~Dan~