Spelling Bees

It was in the fourth grade. I was the spelling bee winner for my class and had to represent Mrs. Ring's class in an all fourth grade spelling bee.

It was a terrible experience. I dreaded it for days. Oh, I was cramming and practicing and trying to get all the rules down in my mind.

You know the ones I'm talking about: i before e except after c, and so on and so on.

I didn't sleep well the night before the big event. Then came sweaty palms, butterflies, and the cottonmouth. Spelling bees are unmerciful. There are no second chances.

No matter how many words you've spelled correctly to that point, you only have to miss the next one to be disqualified.

Surviving the first or third or seventh round doesn't mean a thing, unless you can step up and get the next word letter-perfect too.

That's the way some people think life works: one mistake and you're a done. Not so... life is full of second chances. Most of us already know that because we have experienced them.

Every now and again though we need to be reminded that life is not about getting things letter perfect... it is about learning from mistakes.

Life is all about second chances.