Second Chance or Double Jeopardy?
Ah, the elusive second chance. Almost as difficult to find as the car keys when you're in a hurry and just as easy to lose. But I think it's actually a misnomer. You never get a second chance to correct prior screw-ups, nope; Bill Gates is more likely to send you a million dollars for sending that spam message to every email address you've ever collected. Ain't going to happen.
Here's why: Time travel isn't possible, you're a different person now, more experienced (wiser one might assume), aware of the consequences of screwing it up the first time around. A second chance implys you got a chance to redo. But you can't rewind and redo. You will respond to this new opportunity, which is what it should be referred to as, with new eyes, new knowledge, new power.
The concept of double jeopardy in this country is a simply one, you can't be tried more than once for the same offense. What people misunderstand (thank you very much Ashley Judd and Tommy Lee Jones) is the specificity in that concept. Let's say you get arrested for stealing a 2004 Mercury on Thursday Sept. 23, 2010 at 2:04 a.m. from the corner of Broad & Erie; your dumb ass gets caught and goes to jail. You get out a few months later and steal another car figuring well I already got tried for that they can't do it again. Wrong. You have to steal the same car from the same location at that exact time and day. You gotta time travel.
Now examine the urban legend of a second chance. The elements have changed. It's going to be different this time just like our little car thief in the example above. You can't get tried twice baby. This time is yours, its new and in theory you're all the wiser from screwing up a similar opportunity in the past.
Stop waiting for a second chance, its not coming, they don't exist. What you make of each day is on you. So make the best of it.
Here's why: Time travel isn't possible, you're a different person now, more experienced (wiser one might assume), aware of the consequences of screwing it up the first time around. A second chance implys you got a chance to redo. But you can't rewind and redo. You will respond to this new opportunity, which is what it should be referred to as, with new eyes, new knowledge, new power.
The concept of double jeopardy in this country is a simply one, you can't be tried more than once for the same offense. What people misunderstand (thank you very much Ashley Judd and Tommy Lee Jones) is the specificity in that concept. Let's say you get arrested for stealing a 2004 Mercury on Thursday Sept. 23, 2010 at 2:04 a.m. from the corner of Broad & Erie; your dumb ass gets caught and goes to jail. You get out a few months later and steal another car figuring well I already got tried for that they can't do it again. Wrong. You have to steal the same car from the same location at that exact time and day. You gotta time travel.
Now examine the urban legend of a second chance. The elements have changed. It's going to be different this time just like our little car thief in the example above. You can't get tried twice baby. This time is yours, its new and in theory you're all the wiser from screwing up a similar opportunity in the past.
Stop waiting for a second chance, its not coming, they don't exist. What you make of each day is on you. So make the best of it.
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