Troy P Zehnder

We live in a world that loves to freeze people in their worst mistakes. One bad choice, one broken season, one moment of weakness, and suddenly that becomes their identity forever.
But I’ve lived long enough, and changed enough myself, to know this truth:

**People are not defined by what they were.

They are defined by what they’re willing to become.**

I don’t hand out second or third chances because I’m naïve or soft.
I give them because I understand something most people don’t: change is possible, but only if a person truly wants it. Growth cannot be forced, and forgiveness can’t be demanded, but redemption can be embraced. And when it is, it’s powerful.

I don’t “hope” people will change. Hope feels passive.
I believe people can change, because I’ve seen it. I’ve been it.
And I refuse to judge someone solely by the darkest chapter of their story, especially if they’re fighting to write a better one.

The truth is simple:

• Some people stay the same because they choose to.
• Some people rise because they choose to.
• And all of us are capable of becoming something we weren’t yesterday, if we’re willing to put in the work.

Second chances aren’t excuses.
Second chances are opportunities, for accountability, growth, transformation, and redemption.

I would rather live in a world where people are allowed to heal than one where one mistake becomes a life sentence.
I would rather see who someone can be than stay fixated on who they used to be.
And I would rather offer a door to a better version of themselves than slam it shut forever.

Not everyone will walk through that door.
Not everyone will grow.
Not everyone will choose the hard road of change.

But the ones who do, those are the people who remind us why grace, patience, and belief in second chances still matter.

**Don’t judge people by their worst moment.

Judge them by what they do after it.**