When you stumble, make it a part of the dance.

If life has knocked you down a lot you might be really good at this already.  Grace under fire.  I am getting better with this as the years go by.  No one likes to fall, especially when it’s in front of other people; and those people are usually the ones we consider the closest to us.  Why then is it that we get so embarrassed when we stumble?  Why do we take it so hard?  Why does our PRIDE run for the hills?

What if we could all just catch ourselves when we feel that initial gravitational pull, and turn that fall into a dance?  Imagine that scene; a world full of dancing!  We all know the truth.  We all fall.  Sometimes we fall harder than others, and the truth is no one likes it.  I haven’t met one person yet on my journey that can say they like to fall.  Not only does it take time to get up and on our way again, but it really hurts sometimes!  Falling or stumbling is not what any of us plan for when we start out on our day, but it happens.

The trick is…to turn that stumble into a dance.  Don’t miss a beat, just keep on going.  Rest safe and secure in the FACT that everyone stumbles.  Some stumbles turn into hard falls.  They are a little harder to choreograph, but it can be done.  Sometimes you just need to sit in the ditch on the ground for a little while.  Life can be tiring and sometimes we all need a little break.  My advice to you is to get up as quickly as you can.  The longer you sit, the harder it is to get up and start moving again.

I am so blessed to have such amazing and truthful conversations everyday with some of the most incredible women. Being honest and having hope are two critical things.  When we feel ourselves falling that is when we need to turn to our support system and ask for help.  That’s the rub though…our PRIDE often gets in the way.  Pride is really an ugly monster, and I deal with this particular devil just about everyday.  I am learning  that you don’t always have to be the strong one.  Sometimes, even when you stumble you help others just through osmosis.  When you ask for help you are giving someone else the courage to ask when they need it, and giving them an opportunity to rise up and help another.

In the past week I have watched a good friend unravel.  She was so besides herself; she felt like a failure.  She stumbled hard, but on the way down she contacted me.  I am so PROUD of her for doing this.  She was overwhelmed and she needed a night off.  What amazed me so much about her was that the next day she just got up, dusted herself off, and got back to it.  She turned her stumble into a dance. That took so much strength and courage for her to admit she felt like a failure, ask for help, take the time she needed to re-group and then pick herself back up to carry on.

There is so much we can learn from others struggles and so much we can do to help them on their way.  Sometimes just helping someone tweak the way they think or look at things can have an everlasting effect.  So what is the point in all of this?  If you see someone about to stumble take their hand and help them join the dance.