Mastering the Art of Falling Down

I don't remember when it happened, but sometime in my childhood, I stopped falling down and skinning my knees. It seems like I had skinned knees almost constantly while I was a kid, but at some point, that just stopped happening.

You might think such a thing is all just a part of finally getting a handle on bipedal coordination, but if you've ever seen me on roller skates (or really any type of equipment that is designed to be fastened to one's feet) you'd know better.

I don't really remember any of my wipe-outs as a kid (save a couple of the hugest ones). They mostly just never phased me. A few months ago, however, I tripped walking up the stairs in our garage while I was in a hurry and ended up flat on my face. Since then, I have slowed down and reached for the handrail every single time I've walked up those garage stairs because I keep worrying I'm going to do it again.

It got me wondering: Why don't I remember any of the countless falls that left me bruised and bleeding while I was a kid, but I now get jittery approaching three stairs carrying a bag of groceries?

I think what it really comes down to is that our tolerance for struggle was much greater when we were small. It was something we accepted as part of our growing up process. We fell down a HECK of a lot of times before we learned how to walk. We crashed our bikes and scratched up any number of body parts while learning to ride--but battered and bruised, we kept trying. Sometimes, we'd pick gravel out of those scrapes for days, and a lot of us ended up with scars for the rest of our lives--but that suffering was part of our path to success.

We are creatures of self-improvement. Even when we are babies, we are born striving to do more, learn more, and know more. We'd put just about anything in our mouths back then to try to figure out what it was (something most of us, as adults, would consider a pretty risky behavior).

At some point along our path to adulthood, most of us stop putting ourselves in situations where suffering might occur. Even if there is something more that we want, the appeal of our comfort is often too great of a sacrifice for the struggle of chasing of a dream. 

Don't get me wrong; we're okay with work--even really hard work--but we don't want suffering. Callouses are fine, but we'll pass on skinned knees.

We've become disillusioned about what success looks like. All of the success stories we hear are so enchanting and inspiring, but, the majority of the time, we don't know about what preceded them. We overlook the fact that the "overnight sensation" took someone's entire life to build.

In reality, if you say "I'm ready for success", what you should really mean is "I'm ready to struggle and suffer". But most people really aren't ready for the struggle, and they definitely don't want any of that suffering.  

Photographer James Clear put it best when he said, "The first steps toward any dream are slow, unsexy, and inconvenient." That might not jive with what we see on American Idol or Shark Tank, but it's true.

And, more than that we must also be willing to fail--which we believe is the exact opposite of our goal.

The secret, however, is that failure is NOT the opposite of success. Failure is the path to success. It took thousands of failed attempts before Edison invented a light bulb that worked. He was even told by his teacher that he was "too stupid to learn anything" and should probably find a job where he could get by on his "pleasant personality".

Succeeding in our goals isn't about being the smartest person in the room. It's not even about talent. Talent is just luck. Succeeding and realizing our dreams is about perseverance and courage. It's about continuing on and being brave enough to try again, even when your knee is bloody for the fiftieth time. 

Besides--they make really fun band-aids these days, anyway.

Rock your goals!

If there is a goal you are working towards, download my FREE Goal Setting worksheet to get going in the direction of your dreams! This is the essential tool to define your goals and take action toward achieving what's most important to you.

RELATED POSTS

Know When It's Time To Walk Away	____	Hope and Struggle	____	Blog Archive