DOUBLE TAP TO ZOOM WITH PHONE OR TABLET Chapter 1 A Year of Second Chances When a Second Chance Calls, Will You Answer? If you are waiting for anything in order to live and love without holding back, then you suffer.—David Deida Unburdening Life’s too short to do anything but enjoy it daily. As hardworking educators dedicated to making a difference, we, however, are easily weighed down with work and worry. Burdened with the weight of too many responsibilities, we sometimes have trouble looking up. Being burdened, we can forget what it originally meant to educate: To draw out that which lies within (Latin, educare). What lies within is our birthright to joy. This book is about unburdening. It’s about looking up. It’s about choos- ing to take (and offer) as many second chances as our hearts can bear. It’s about reclaiming the joy and humor and passion that are rightfully ours, especially when our joy, humor, and passion are under threat. It’s about drawing out the promise that lies within you, me, and each person we touch. As we do this, we find and share in all the little comforts awaiting us in our everyday lives. COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL 3