Princliples

      A great man once said, “Forgiveness is not an occasional act, it is a constant attitude.” This man is Martin Luther King Jr, not only one of the greatest civil rights activists in American history, but he is also contributed with being an overall amazing intellectual thinker. Forgiveness is not a principle, however, giving people a second chance is. 
      Nobody is perfect, so why judge someone on his or her initial action. When we as humans jump to conclusions about people, we are not only constricting them of doing what they wanted, but we are disabling our selves from a great opportunity. The very popular expression don't judge a book by its cover is not only about first impressions. While it may go unsaid, there's no point in being open about the cover if you give up after the first page. Luckily, and sometimes unfortunately for us, humans aren't books, and a lot of times you can know someone very well before you see them do something wrong. The important part about this is to forgive them, and give them a second chance.
      I'm not saying that if someone murder's your children you should immediately forgive them, I'm just saying you have to look at the big picture. Even in a post-apocalyptic society as in The Road, second chances are an important principle. Whether it's losing the gun or running after a boy, the dad continues to support the son through all of his mistakes. Even though the dad led them into a room full of human food and has almost gotten them killed, the son continues to trust the father around every corner. 
      Personally, I am extremely grateful to those who gave me second chances, and as my thanks to them, I try to be open minded when giving second chances to others. Everybody makes mistakes, what separates the the strong from the weak is how they respond to these mistakes.