DOUBLE TAP TO ZOOM WITH PHONE OR TABLET wonder and in so doing, open the way for a lifetime of learning. You listen to a person’s struggle and hear the dream beneath the suffering. You create classrooms everywhere: on a field trip to the fire station, in the moment a child is about to strike another child, when a burdened parent walks through your door, when things don’t turn out as you had planned, when you listen to your own true voice. This is the territory of second chances. I wrote this book, The Comfort of Little Things: An Educator’s Guide to Second Chances, for you, for me, and for every person who touches the lives of others. We deserve that second chance. We deserve • the comfort of being unburdened; • the encouragement to make the difference only we can; • to loosen the limits we put on ourselves; • to appreciate the complex marvel that we are; • the relief in learning from our mistakes and failure; • the comfort that flows from acceptance; • the freedom that comes from no longer harshly judging ourselves and others; and • to be honored and protected and soothed. As you let yourself find the second chance in each moment, especially in those anxious moments, you model hope for others. You model compassion. You model forgiveness. You model how to learn. And yes, you model how to laugh at yourself, get over yourself, and grow. If we let go of the life we have planned, we regain the life we are meant to live. Each of us each day, each moment, has a choice: give ourselves and others a second chance or turn away. We can be expert at keeping busy, looking out for others and neglecting ourselves. Yet we can likewise become gifted at not only offering but also accepting the wonder of a second chance. We educators open the world to our students. Isn’t it time that we open the world to ourselves as well? Join me in a quest to discover the life that awaits you if you decide that yes, you are worthy of a second chance. May this book befriend and support you along the way. x Preface COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL