A Second Chance
“To inspire people, don’t show them your superpowers— show them theirs.”
— Unknown
They say you only get one chance to make a first impression— but sometimes we need a do over to make it a lasting impression…
It’s February— finally! Finally after the record breaking longest January I could ever remember and let’s not discuss the finale— the nor’easter... it’s been a heavy start to 2022 — and I don’t mean just the plentiful amounts of snow.
According to our old pal Phil from Pennsylvania— who’s not afraid of his shadow shared with us his unfavorable prediction of six more weeks of winter before we spring again —nevertheless the second chapter in our subscription to 2022 is here.
So many twos in the date it’s like the universe is giving us all a second chance…
Why is January so long? It’s that old adage about raising children— the days are long but the years come by quickly. If we don’t stop and enjoy it we will miss it.
I read someone say while they were pregnant they were going to enjoy it because it will be the last time they do this. I guess I never stopped long enough to think about the last time I will ever do something— be pregnant or be a kid or be single in the city or be 31 again.
Sometimes in an idle moment, when I get mom-somnia on Sunday nights— I think about the first times. But never thought of them as the last times. Because last times seem so final. My first times had second times and the next times were different not better or worst just different but never did I think they were the last— even if they were…
February is the month of love. But this year, this February, it’s a second chance to make a first impression in a month and year filled with so many twos. Wasn’t it on 11:11 we are supposed to make a wish? Now I’m thinking it’s in the twos that we get the do overs.
My sons came home from school today and told me all about the Lunar New Year and how it is the year of the Tiger. They explained it’s because tigers are brave, wise and strong. The Asian culture is also hued in red. Red is symbolic in it’s a sign of good luck and good fortune, it is the highest arc in the rainbow ( and so are all the shades of red-heads in my home with the exception of mine). I am not saddened by my exclusion in their camaraderie of colorful locks, but I consider myself surrounded by their goodness, luck and fortune, and how what makes me different teaches them being inclusive is beauty in individuality.
“To inspire people, don’t show them your superpowers— show them theirs.”
— Unknown
February is also Black History month. My boys were excited to share with me how their school is teaching and enriching them with some of the greatest of our time. From sports to the Supreme Court , cool inventions and the music industry greats.
Over homework I told them, Adding your fingerprint to this world is what makes you unique to yourself that is why learning about others originality strengthens our own individuality— I personally think it is what our youth and our country need for a better understanding of how individuality not just race and ethnicity defines us and the generations yet to come…
Greatness is colorblind.
This week Tom Brady has officially announced his retirement from the NFL on his terms and timeline. I am not a Patriots or Buccaneers fan, I’m a Brady fan.
His story.
His legacy.
He was the last draft picked yet the GOAT of the NFL. And when we honor him, he will be remembered for both of those things. It makes teaching my boys you won’t always be the line leader or someone initial choice but if you believe in you when you have no one following impressions can change and that determines your destiny. His second act will be just as inspiring as his first. And this won’t be the last we see of him.
Our first week into our second edition, aka February, the week will end with the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympic Games.
This month we will be honoring the Trail Blazers, the underdogs and rooting for global accomplishments.
Last night I thought about it some more, and was curious why they chose the Tiger this year. 2010 was the last time a tiger was chosen for the Lunar New Year .
12 years ago I was in a completely different phase of my life. Newly married and not a mommy not even close but it was somewhere in a twinkle of my eye. It was also a new and younger decade than I am now. Just like the moon, I have changed my shape and size but my core was always the same.
Maybe this symbolical animal is something we are all seeking and hope to find— bravery, wisdom and strength. That isn’t specific to a time or phase but core values we seek in ourselves and our reflections and relationships. But— Why is it so easy we call some animals brave and others weak? It is based upon survival mode. Last one standing. But I don’t really look at lasts. I think it’s actually all about the first one up. I mean, I’m the first one up most days.
There’s a responsibility of being first. A grit in it. It means you are required and accountable for the mistakes of those around you— Fair or not. My older son, my first born, regardless of his conscious acknowledgment sets the tone for his younger brother. Ironically the same thing can be said for our younger self. Our choices of yesterdays determine our tomorrows more than they decide our todays. I learned one thing about being a mommy I might be the last to eat but I’m the first one for everything else even everyone else’s mistakes— they become mine first and I have to eat it.
Tonight as I made dinner and cut off the crusts I realized it is an unspoken requirement that I can’t cut the corners.
So maybe there is some truth in not just making a first impression but a lasting ones. This time it is about the what we do in the end and not the beginning. It is what I will leave my children with that will be what they remember the most about me. That is why how I say goodnight and goodbye are just as important as how I greet them when they wake up or leave for the world. Just like all of the hero’s and greats, the up in comings and the best kept secrets or the last in line, it’s what we choose to do with what we got that makes us someone we honor and aspire towards and not envy.
Here’s something that made slow down, stop and think. Sometimes slowing down is something we all need a reminder in. It’s why the yellow traffic light is in existence today. Creating a change that can improve and impact the lives of others. My little one shared this unbelievable fact he learned at school this week in honor of Black History Month and a life changing invention. In 1923 — Garrett Morgan received a patent for an electric traffic signal. The African American inventor owned a sewing machine company in Cleveland and, after witnessing a horrific accident, worked on his automated traffic signal system. GE paid him $40,000 for the invention.
All it takes is an idea of change in the direction of your life, and it can ultimately change the direction of others.
Greatest is a journey to a destination.