WORD OF THE WEEK: CHANCE
BY SELLO HATANG:
There is something fascinating about the word chance. For many people, particularly when we think about the lottery, chance is associated with luck. You buy a ticket, choose your numbers and hope that, somehow, the numbers fall in your favour. For a moment, you allow yourself to imagine a different tomorrow. But as I dedicate this word to the CEO of the National Lotteries Commission, Commissioner Jodi Scholtz. I have been thinking about another meaning of chance.
Not the chance we take, but the chance we give. Most of us can identify at least one moment in our lives when somebody took a chance on us. I strongly believe that one chance can change everything, but sometimes, the greatest miracle is becoming the chance that changes someone else’s life.
Perhaps you did not have all the qualifications. Perhaps you did not have the experience. Maybe you came from a place where very few people were expected to succeed. Perhaps your CV was not the strongest in the pile. But somebody saw something in you that you could not yet fully see in yourself and said: let us give them a chance.
That chance may have been your first job. Your first opportunity to lead. Your first platform to speak. Your first business contract. Your first opportunity to demonstrate what you were capable of. Once somebody opened that door, you did the rest.
That is why I believe one of the greatest responsibilities that comes with leadership is the ability to create chances for others. Leadership should never only be about how high we climb. It must also be about how many people are able to climb because we were there.
That is what makes the work of institutions such as the National Lotteries Commission important. Beyond the tickets, numbers and jackpots is another story: the story of what becomes possible when resources reach people and communities. Somewhere, a young athlete needs a chance to compete. An artist needs a chance to create. A community organisation needs a chance to continue feeding people. A young entrepreneur needs somebody to believe in an idea. A person living with a disability needs an opportunity to participate fully in society.
A community desperately needs an organisation willing to invest in its future.
Sometimes what stands between potential and achievement is simply a chance.
But there is another dimension to this word that we should not forget: second chances. We live in a world that can be unforgiving. We sometimes define people permanently by their worst mistake, their greatest failure or the most difficult chapter of their lives.
Yet all of us have needed another chance at something.
Another chance to get it right.
Another chance to apologise.
Another chance to rebuild.
Another chance to start again.
Another chance to become the person we know we can be.
A society that believes in human potential must also believe in second chances. Of course, a chance is not a guarantee of success. You can open the door, but somebody must still walk through it. You can provide the opportunity, but somebody must still do the work. You can give someone a platform, but they must decide what they will do with it.
That is the relationship between opportunity and responsibility.
Perhaps that is why this week’s word should speak especially to young people.
Do not wait forever for the perfect opportunity. Sometimes you must take a chance on yourself.
Apply for the position.
Start the business.
Write the proposal.
Go back to school.
Ask for help.
Knock on the door.
Try again after rejection.
And when somebody finally gives you that chance, honour it through preparation, discipline and hard work.
But as you rise, remember the person who once opened a door for you. Then turn around and open one for somebody else.
Today, I leave you with two questions:
Who gave you your chance?
And perhaps more importantly:
Whose chance are you creating?
Because success becomes meaningful when the opportunities we receive do not end with us.
Luck may change a moment. But the right chance, given at the right time, can change the direction of an entire life.
Take a chance.
Give a chance.
And when necessary, give someone another chance.
Join the movement.
#ReHataMmoho #SH
Follow us on our social media platforms below: