To The One Looking For a Second Chance

Blog and photograph by Joy Cannis

To the one looking for a second chance...

Maybe you don’t even realize that’s what you’re looking for? Maybe you’re searching for a way out of your current circumstances? Maybe you’re longing for someone to look at you, truly seeing you for the first time, and say, “I know. I’ve been there. I’ve walked in those same shoes and I made the single choice to step off the crazy train.”?

Maybe you think you’re beyond a second chance?  Sweet friend, no one, created in the image of God, (and that’s all of us), is ever beyond a second chance. No one. You are worth saving.

There is life to be lived. There is beauty to be had. There is light to be shared.

However, it will not work in isolation.

Addiction keeps you in solitary confinement mentally. We were not created to live a life detached from others.

Listen, your thoughts deceive you. Especially when you’re struggling with addiction, depression, eating disorders... you need a trusted source to speak truth into your heart and mind. When the lies seep in, you must have a voice of hope. POTSC was and is that voice of hope for me and it has evolved to me being that voice of hope for others. Me! The girl who beat my own face against the curb, breaking my own nose, in attempts to stop the persistent lies in my own mind.

This is not a complicated process. I made one decision. Today, here, in this moment, you only need to make one decision. Put the shovel down. Stop digging. Surrender is not a sign of weakness, it’s a testament of courage and strength. Instead of using your bottom as an uncomfortable place to lie down, use it as a trampoline.

Something that has helped me greatly in my time of desperation is prayer.

I don’t say long, elaborate prayers. I don’t always drop to my knees or fall on my face (though at times that’s the only way to quiet my ego), There’s no formal monologue. Most of the time it is a word or sentence. It’s simple enough for a child to recite yet powerful enough to calm my anxious heart. If you don’t know where to start, feel free to use mine.

“God, not my will. Not my way. Yours. Please drown out all the noise that attempts to distract me from my real purpose. Unshackle me from the bondage of self.”

Start replacing the negative self-talk with single words like, redeemed, restored, renewed, rebuilt, rescued... These are some of my favorites. POTSC have incredible resources available to us. Reach out.

You’re not alone. You don’t ever have to be alone again.