“Get back up…”
Shared by Breanne Smedley
Charlee has been a lot more mobile these days. Crawling over things, standing, walking around furniture.
With that comes an inherent risk: falling down.
And she does it often!
Stand up, wobble for a second, fall down.
Then it’s right back up, stand for a bit longer, then fall down.
Of course, some falls are more dramatic than others.
Like the time last week that she was trying to walk around the ottoman, but couldn’t quite figure out where to put that next foot when she was rounding the corner.
She lost her grip, fell backwards, and bonked her head on the floor.
As a parent, I’m always worried about my reaction. If I freak out, she’ll probably freak out, right?
So, I wait a moment and assess. Sometimes there are tears, and it takes longer for her to try again. Other times, she just rolls over, and gets back up.
Tears or no tears, though, I’ve noticed one thing over the past three months:
She gets back up.
From the simplest perspective, Charlee is showing me what it looks like to be resilient.
She gets knocked down, I’d say on average, 25 times a day.
And each time, she makes her way back up. Getting stronger and more confident each time.
Day after day of doing this has led her to where she is now. Still learning, but getting closer and closer to those first steps.
Which will bring more failure as she tries to master that skill.
I’m trying to apply this to my own life. I get “knocked down” all the time.
Sometimes, even, I find myself thinking things like:
“Ugh, this always happens to me!”
“Wonder what’s going to go wrong next?!”
“Could the universe just give me a break for a second?!”
All of these thoughts have one thing in common. They place me as the victim in my story.
They assume that there is some power or force that is causing challenging things to always happen to ME and me alone.
Poor me, always getting knocked down! I’m just going to stay down here a while…feel sorry for myself.
I imagine if Charlee did that. How pathetic that would be!
As parents, we know that falling down is the process of learning how to learn how to crawl and walk.
We even say to her, while she’s on the ground after a fall, “Come on, back up Char!!”
It’s the same in our lives. The key is changing our mindset to believe the same thing.
Our failures, setbacks, even our crappy moods some days, are all opportunities to grow.
The power over how we act and feel every day isn’t “out there,” dependent on whatever life circumstance we find ourselves in.
It’s within us.
We have the power to get back up and change our story.
#StoryAthlete #DaringlyResilient #MindfluentLeader
P.S. Part of this story was featured in our weekly newsletter this morning! If you are interested in joining the Mindfluent® Leader Community, where you and other like-minded leaders will receive our weekly newsletter, containing concepts to consider, new practices, and leadership challenges, sign up here.
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