Get back up again

Many of us know the chorus of a popular song by Donnie McClurkin, "We fall down, but we get up". It's life, many of us learned this lesson while learning to ride a bike. When the training wheels come off we fall down, but we get back up over and over again, until suddenly riding on two wheels feels natural. Sometimes in that learning process we fall and we fall hard, we scrape a knee, shed some tears, but somehow we find ourselves back on the bike trying to ride again. Sometimes after a really hard fall we may have enlisted the help of others to bandage us up, dry our tears and encourage us to try again. The focus is on the "again", trying for another time, or another opportunity. Again, means that we are not giving up, we keep going until we get it right. It can be hard and painful even, but if we are willing to push past the pain and give it another try, there is a possibility that we will accomplish what we set out to do.

I have several instances where this has rang true and one in particular that I will share with you. When I was in high school like most 17 year old's I wanted my drivers license so I went to driving school and took the state driving exam which I failed. Yes I failed my first drivers test....ok you can stop laughing now. I failed because I didn't know how to parallel park. You would think they would have gone over that at driving school, but they didn't and needless to say, no practice, no good, no license. I was completely  MORTIFIED! I had to return to school the next day after ALL my friends knew I took the test only to tell them I failed. I was so embarrassed and had made up in my mind that I would just never drive ever again.  My pride was hurt and I needed help bandaging myself up so that I could reach my "again". A family member seeing how upset I was made it their mission to get me back on the road. They ensured this time that I knew how to parallel park. I practiced until it was comfortable and returned to the DMV to retake the driving test. I made sure not to tell any of my friends (just in case I failed again). I passed with flying colors! And the rest is history.

It's hard to revisit something that you may have failed in the past. But it doesn't mean that you should stop trying.

We fall down.....but we get up!