Don’t miss those second chances (Grab the 1-ups in life)

People may say that they’ve lived their life with no regrets. While that’s a noble thing to say, I think the real truth is that a lot of us have experienced some regret at one point or another in our lives. It could’ve been something small and rather trivial or a big decision that didn’t come to the outcome that was expected. I think we all experience these moments and wish we had 2nd chances. Today I’m focusing on making sure you keep an open mind and heart for those second chances that are presented to you. Use those chances as a way to refocus your life and make sure you are pursuing what you’ve always wanted to accomplish.

Upon graduating Notre Dame, I thought I was ready to conquer the world. I left on such high spirits that I thought anything I did would save the world. Working for a corporate company? I would bring in so much profit and so much value. For family, I could earn money and support my mom fully. Nothing felt out of reach. I then hit the real world. From my experience it slammed me down hard and slapped some reality back into me.

I soon was a college grad that had a good job but was struggling with everything in life. Bills, a dog that I didn’t know how to take care of, rising stress from personal situations.. all of it was something that dragged life down. I honestly think that I made a lot of uninformed decisions during that time and I probably could’ve been more well off. Instead I made wrong choices and even when friends visited I didn’t have that much money to spend to go around town (sorry Arielle! At least I made it up the 2nd time around )

I was given a chance to get back to where I needed to be. People helped out and really helped me focus on what I needed to pay off and how to save money appropriately. I have Krista to thank for a lot of it as she is a great financial guru. But there were also others that gave the correct encouragement and advice along the way to get me back up as well. Through it all, I’ve learned valuable lessons that I’m glad that I learned early on rather than later in my career.

I again saw a second chance pop up over this weekend. It was the graduation weekend for the last class of people at Notre Dame that I knew personally. It was crazy to think that these individuals were already becoming alumni when just yesterday it seemed they were freshmen. During the weekend I heard a number of speeches that were geared towards pursuing your passion and your dreams. It was through these ideas and cleverly crafted words that I interpreted a second chance for me to always hold on to. Let me explain…

This blog is something that can be very powerful. The satisfaction you can get from writing and having others read your own musings is something that can induce happiness. The feeling of helping others is one of the highest forms of happiness I value. For me it’s been a great thing to do consistently and I find that when I do get the chance to write every single day even if it’s for a little but, I am overall more happy. In addition, I find that my creativity greatly increases because I’m constantly thinking of new ideas and new snippits of advice for people that I can share. Lately, things have been absolutely crazy with work and personal things. For work I’ve been given more responsibility and I’ve enjoyed it immensely. It does take a lot out of me because I have to align myself with India time but I have so much experience now for the future. This has been coupled with things going on with Krista and trying to figure out what’s going on with her from a health standpoint has really made me very busy. It seems like a convenient excuse though to stop consistently blogging. What graduation weekend has reminded me is that I do myself a disservice if I use that excuse.

This blog is a passion of mine. Helping others is a passion of mine. I need to keep the passion going and I need to spread the good feelings to my work and to others around me. The speeches given by keynote speakers and those much wiser than me hit me where I needed it. I need to continue to follow my passion. I need to find the time to keep the blog going and give it everything I’ve got. Otherwise, I may not get another chance in the future to push for what I want to provide to the world in this blog format or even worse I might start losing my edge and affinity for publishing things that can help others.

When saying goodbye to Ana after graduation ceremonies she gave me a 1-up mushroom that is a classic icon in Mario games. Though it was a gift at the time, I took it to mean a bit more. Ana has always wanted to help others out and she’s proudly going to be doing that post-graduation. The 1-up mushroom for me is a symbol of second chances you are given in life. Take reminders and advice from others that might get you fired up to finish something you started. Catch enthusiasm from others. Reignite your passions. The 1-up mushroom for me symbolizes that chance to pick yourself back up once something in your life is approaching “death” or a dead end. It’s just a good reminder in general to not miss second chances and to finish things you’ve started. We all have regrets at one point or another but maybe you can turn some of them around when you get a 1-up and turn that regret into a growth experience.