The Fall

A couple weeks ago, I went snowboarding for the first time in probably 5 years. Which is kind of an eternity when it comes to muscle memory. Well, mine in particular.

I tried it once when I was younger, and let me tell you, I was even less coordinated then than I am now, if you can believe it. I took lessons, and spent half the day on my butt. After that, I stuck with skiing for a few years.

Miraculously, I tried it again in college, and it went so much better. I have a theory that coordination is like a second puberty, where once you're done taking mandatory P.E. classes, you suddenly acquire all the skills that would have made said classes much less painful.

ANYWAY.

It's not like I'm an avid snowboarder, and I went probably once a year for a few years, and then not at all until a few weeks ago.

I won't lie, I was nervous. It had been a while, and I knew I was going to hit the ground. That ish HURTS, friends. Snow looks soft and fluffy, but it's a completely different story when you launch your body on the cold ground at around 20 mph. Of course I was scared to fall.

I went, I tried, and it wasn't that bad. I was cautious, for sure. I took a few small spills here and there, and it actually came back to me a lot faster than I thought, if I may say so myself.

And then it happened. I knew it would, I was really just hoping it wouldn't.

I was going down, making my turns, and picking up speed. And then I picked up a little too much speed. More than I could control.

I was flying down the mountain, and it happened. My board went out from under me and I landed on my hip and side, and my head snapped back and smacked the ground with a vengeance (Hello, Concussion #4).

I knew it wouldn't feel good, but heck, this one really took the cake.

My thoughts for the following .6 seconds after slamming my entire body on the ground went

"Holy he** that hurt!!! ...... hold up. Did I just poop myself?"

I didn't, just so you know.

But GOOD LORD everything hurt.

It took me a solid 2 minutes to get up and finish the run, and friends, I was humbled.

My head was throbbing, and my back and butt hurt, but I was okay. I was in one piece.

After a couple more runs, we went in for lunch, and after my headache went away and my blood sugar was back up, I found myself feeling really good.

I felt really grateful and full of joy, and it was because I fell.

Not that I enjoyed falling. I mean, I don’t particularly enjoy slamming my body into a cold, hard mountain at warp speed.

But I fell. And I knew the worst part of the day was behind me. After that, I was free to practice and learn and grow and make a fool of myself because I no longer had a “perfect record” of not falling. I didn’t have to be afraid of it anymore.

It felt so good to make a mistake, and get back up and try it again. It felt good to not be the best, and to actually be the worst for a little while. LOLZ, no but really. I’m terrible.

As adults, we talk about falling and getting back up all the time, in a motivational sense. We talk about professional setbacks, and "falling", emotionally, spiritually, and mentally.

We don't talk about it physically, because, as adults, we don't really get many opportunities to exert ourselves in a physical activity where you could potentially fall (like sports). When we do fall, it's embarrassing and can wreck our confidence for the entire day.

Our mentality has basically resorted to considering "falling" to mean a professional, emotional, or mental failure.

Let's make something clear.

Falling isn't failing.

When a baby learns to walk, it falls a lot. They learn to fall safely and comfortably, and they're not afraid of it.

They're not failing. Not in the slightest.

And you're not either.

In a world where all of the "falls" you would normally take are in your head, and not on your body, it's no wonder our mental health is suffering. Not only do we avoid falling physically, we're constantly worried about falling in every personal aspect of our lives.

We have become so outrageously afraid of failing, that we don't let ourselves fall, and falling is a good thing.

I mean, it's called falling in love, right? One of the greatest gifts on earth is literally letting yourself fall and become vulnerable and open with another person. It can hurt sometimes, that vulnerability. That doesn't mean it's not worth it.

So get out there and fall for something. You can always get back up.

"The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
'The LORD is my portion,' says my soul, 'therefore I will hope in him.'" Lamentations 3:22-24

"Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." James 1:2-4