When I was in 6th grade, I started doing gymnastics and by high school I was competing for my high school team. I competed on everything – floor, uneven bars, vault and balance beam. I was pretty good I guess, winning plenty of awards for the meets. One day, Senior year, I fell. I was doing a back flip on the balance beam, like I had done hundreds of times before, but this time, I fell to the floor upside down on my head. That’s a long way to fall off a four- inch plank. I was ok but my self- confidence was not. My coach let me settle down a bit and then told me to do it again.
Although I was able to do it a couple of times during that season, I never felt self-confidence like I had before. It was stuck in my mind “I might fall”.
Lots of us struggle when we fall with a difficult diagnosis, a family challenge, a business problem, addiction – no matter what it is. But what does it mean to get back up?
One of the best examples might be the undoing of Tiger Woods. The world watched the arguably finest golf player ever fall to grace upon a marriage scandal of proportions hard to fathom. In a humiliating public arena, we watched the demise of not only his reputation, his marriage, his wealth but also his storied role as the greatest golfer ever- as he even lost his swing.
This story doesn’t end here though. Woods has slowly rebuilt his life, his game, and even his reputation. Although he still gets into top golf competitions, he doesn’t perform nearly close to what he used to.
But this is the greatest part of this story for me. He’s out there. He’s trying. He has learned some hard things the hard way but has decided to get up anyway.
And I admire this kind of grit from anyone, digging deep to learn more about oneself and understanding that often the best success doesn’t come from the shiny awards, the new job or the results from the doctor’s office, but for the inner sense that by picking yourself up, you have already won.
Jennifer Dickenson is an author, cancer survivor and health advocate.
Website: http://www.JenniferDickenson.com
Find her book: The Case for Hope: What I Learned on My Journey from Cancer to Wellness: We Can Heal by Jennifer Laguzza Dickenson at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Balboa Press and other fine book carriers.
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