It's not up to you
how you fall. It's up to you how
far you let yourself fall,
and how long it
takes you to get back up and stand on your own two feet.
-
Sr. Tac Jeffrey Mitchell
With umbrella in one
hand and 2 grocery bags in the other, I slipped on a small hill
during my walk home. Arms flailed, spine contorted and jarred, face
suspended in fear of the possible bruise and wet pants, but never
actually landed on my ass, kind of slip. Jolted out of the swirling
anxious thoughts that had been filling my head, I straightened
myself. Smiled and tossed a “slippery when wet” joke at the
passer-by who slowed enough to ask if I was okay. Fixed my turned-up
umbrella. And continued on my way.
Ok Universe, I
thought, you pulled me out of my own head and got my attention. What
is it you want me to notice from this?
I know that I am
someone who often over-thinks and over-analyzes. The thing is it can be all too easy to get caught up in your own head –
be it with anxious thoughts, or day dreams. We miss or ignore the
warning signs of the rain, the wet pavement, the inclined road; the
instinctual hesitancy of our feet, our gut, our heart: all saying “Be
careful. Go slow... Go, but go slow.”
So sometimes we
fall. And the bruised bones hurt, the bruised ego hurts, even when
there is a lesson to be learned and appreciated in the aftermath.
Sometimes though, we
only almost fall. But that
can hurt too, jarring the body, jarring the ego.
As I was jolted
awake to the slippery ground beneath me and scrambled to find solid
footing, survival became the only important thought.
As I shook off the hurt and collected
myself, confidence in strength and stability
returned to my thinking.
As
I continued on my journey and asked the Universe for the lesson to be
learned and appreciated in the aftermath, I looked around at
my present surroundings and realized that actually, despite the rain
and a bruised ego, I was exactly where I wanted to be and I was doing alright.
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