Women Who Hope

By Samantha McKenzie

“Keep your face always toward the sunshine – and shadows will fall behind you.” Walt Whitman

When we fall, we should get back up. When we stumble, we should correct our steps and try it again. When it doesn’t work out, we must dig in until we get it right. This is a part of living. This is a part of you.

The truth is, we will fall more times than we can count. From the time we are tots, we have someone there, trying to catch us from falling. It’s normal to want to avoid pitfalls, to find the easier, to seek out the less costly route to a destination. But it’s the furthest thing from reality. We actually fall down pretty often – figuratively and literally. It usually happens unexpectedly and there’s hardly any time to brace ourselves. We waste time pretending it won’t ever happen to us, and when it does, we are often ill-prepared.

The real lesson is in the number of times we must get back up. What happens after we fall? After the shock, the dismay, the embarrassment? How do we pick up the pieces? How do we recover from the self-inflicted shame?

We should share our getting back up stories. Try putting aside the idea that we are perfect. Instead, try telling about the lessons learned, the cost of starting over and the intrinsic value of giving your life another fighting chance.