Getting a Second Chance with Your Health

The great thing about life is that are lots of opportunities for second chances. Growing up I know my parents gave me more than my fair share of second chances.

I remember when I was in high-school and had one of the family vehicles. There was some fresh snow on the ground and I was driving back after lunch with a friend. Behind the school was an alley and I was fishtailing the back end of the car to show off for my friend.

Well I ended up knocking out a guy's backyard fence. It went down like a stack of dominos.

This guy could have gone to the police.

He could have gone to the principal.

He could have called my parents.

Instead he came and found me at school. And told me he was going to let me come to his place on the weekend and fix the damage I caused.

Talk about catching a break and getting a second chance!

I'll never forget what this guy did for me and how it kept me out of trouble.

But there are some times in life when you don't get a second chance.

[caption id="attachment_5353" align="aligncenter" width="294"] If your chute doesn't open you may not get a second chance.

And there are some times when a do-over can't happen quickly enough.

  [caption id="attachment_5352" align="aligncenter" width="264"] When mom mixes up pyjama and picture day.

Hopefully the worst that happens to us in order to make a chance is an embarrassing story. But for some there is a serious health complication that gets our attention. It causes us to reflect on the decisions we are making regarding our health, good or bad.

And this second chance allows us an opportunity to right the ship. We are able to turn things around and improve our health. We are able to avoid a future scare.

Because if we get this warning and ignore it that is just foolish and selfish. Foolish because we should know better. And because we now have a second chance, that others may not get, and we're just going to waste this precious gift of life. And it's selfish because our lives don't involve just ourselves. We were brought into this world by two other people. We have relatives, neighbours, friends, co-workers and others that we matter to and want us to be well.

Sometimes people make a change to their health and fitness but not because of a health scare.

Consider the story of Olga Kotelko.

She started competing in track and field at the age of 77. When she passed away at 95 years young she held 26 world records. And she just competed in a meet, in the rain, the previous weekend before her passing.

[caption id="attachment_5354" align="aligncenter" width="196"] Olga Kotelko competing in the long jump at 87 years old.

I don't know about you but hearing about Olga's story makes me feel inspired. It makes me feel like I could do a little more. It makes me feel that age is just a number and that we can more than we think we're capable of doing.

Not only does this help us personally it helps those around us. Our children see a positive example to emulate. Our friends might get motivated to do something themselves. Our parents look at us proudly as they recognize we are taking full advantage of the gift they gave us.

Going forward I want to challenge you. And the challenge is to help someone that has been dealt a second chance. Maybe it was a health scare. Maybe it was seeing a close friend or family member become diagnosed with a disease. Or someone else that may require a surgery.

With any of these scenarios reach out to this person and see if they're ready to make a change. Chance are they're already thinking of doing something. Having someone they trust inquire and offering to help may be all the kickstart they need to turn their health around.