In 1980 a sword and sorcery movie was released called “Hawk the Slayer.” For its time it was probably an awful movie but being a kid, we loved it.  It really was a B movie, the special effects were not that special, the story line was very trite. Now if you have not seen the movie, I will not wreck the ending, but I will talk about a few specific scenes in the movie. So go to YouTube or somewhere you can find it and watch it but it will be a good ninety-four minutes you won’t get back.  

About six minutes into the movie, you see a warrior running away from a battle struggling. We later learned that his name is Ranulf. He reaches a convent, and the sisters bring him in to heal him. A few minutes later in the movie, Voltan (the antagonist) bust into the convent to kidnap the Abbess from the convent, Ranuff tries to intervene, he has Voltan in the sights of his repeating crossbow but does not fire. Voltan in one quick motion throws a knife hitting Ranulf, and when Voltan’s henchmen go to finish him, Voltan stops them.  

I am going to fast forward a bit in the movie, as most is not pertinent to this post. Towards the end of the movie, Voltan again faces Ranulf (who has gotten help from the protagonist) as he believes he has won the battle. He says I gave you a second chance, and you have used your time wisely. This is the line I want to focus on.  

Have you ever found that you really have a second chance? How did you use it? Was it a second chance in a relationship? A second chance at work? Or a second chance in life? For me, it was a second chance in life. Not everyone knows how a football injury could have ended my life, but lots of luck, a dream and some great doctors saved me. The question I started to think about, have I used my second chance that well.  

I often focus on the mistakes I make, the issue in front of me, and yes, my mind keeps me up thinking about them. But then there are days where I take advantage of the life I built, the fortunes I have and the people I know do some good. This past week I hosted another volunteer event at the Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital in NYC.  I am very thankful that I can get the time off to use it, that I have a great team that is willing to donate their time, and to be able to donate supplies for the children. Very thankful for the team at MSCH for allowing us to go there.  

It was a great afternoon with kids who need some cheer this holiday season. It is days like that where I can look back and say I am trying to use my second chance well. I may have made other mistakes and screwed up some other second chances. But I do try to make some people’s lives better, and I will continue to do so as long as I can. I just need to find other opportunities to do the same.  

Lastly, I am very fortunate that my daughters want to follow in my footsteps. 

This opinion is mine, and mine only, my current or former employers, have nothing to do with it. I do not write for any financial gain; I do not take advertising, and any product company listed was not done for payment. But if you do like what I write, you can donate to the charity I support (with my wife who passed away in 2017) Morgan Stanley’s Children’s Hospital or donate to your favorite charity. The fundraising site had to be restarted, and NYP Hospital made changes to their donation sites. I pay to host my site out of my own pocket; my intention is to keep it free.  You are welcome to comment, but note it is moderated, and all spam will be removed.  

This Blog is a labor of love and was originally going to be a book. With the advent of being able to publish yourself on the web, I chose this path. I will write many of these and not worry too much about grammar or spelling (I will try to come back later and fix it) but focus on content. I apologize in advance for my ADD as often topics may flip. I hope one day to turn this into a book and or a podcast, but for now it will remain a blog.  AI is not used in this writing other than using the web to find information. Images without notes are created using an AI tool that allows me to reuse them.