The life cycle is more than being born and dying. What we do during the hyphen comes in cycles too. These cycles teach us about life, and the experiences can either make us crumble under pressure or build us stronger than ever imagined. Our mindset determines which one it will be, and while our mind can play tricks on us, the spirit of our heart can guide us when our minds are masked. Fall. I lost track of the number of times I fell and skinned my knees as a kid. For every skinned knee, there was a lesson to be learned. Do not run in flip flops. Do not carry something so big that you cannot see where you are going. Do not be in a hurry when walking on ice. Do not use the front wheel brake on a bike. See a pattern here? So, I was not swift on my feet as a kid, or even now, for that matter, but I remember those lessons still today. And the falls from childhood helped prepare me to handle the falls of my teen years and now into adulthood. While I have managed to stay on my feet in the literal sense, in a metaphorical sense, the tumbles of life look differently now, but the way of dealing with them remain the same. No matter the cuts and scrapes, we have to dust off our knees, stand back up, and not repeat the same actions the next time. Break. No matter how strong or invincible we think we are, everything has a weak spot and a breaking point. When we are young and, quite frankly, sometimes stupid, we think we can take on the world and never meet our weakness. Well, I thought the same thing for a while. I took things by storm and figured I could always keep the same high-speed momentum in everything I would ever do in life. I learned this lesson the hard way, and I met a breaking point quick. Not every break is a bad thing, though. It taught me to slow down, how to say no, and that I did not have to do everything to prove anything to anyone. I eventually put all the pieces back together, but it took a lot for me to admit that the fear of something bigger than myself was chipping away at me. Feeling broken is okay. Staying broken is not. Fail. People say that failure is not an option. But, in all reality, failure is an option. No one plans on it; sometimes, it just happens. When I was in my younger years of schooling, the thought of failing a test was the absolute worst thing that I ever thought could happen to me, and while getting a bad grade on something still makes my heart flutter a bit, I know it is not the end of the world. Failures teach us to do better next time. Failures show us areas to improve. Failures make us appreciate our successes. Failing one thing does not define us as a failure, and that is where I think people get stuck in feeling that way. When things do not turn out the way we think they should, it should motivate us to achieve higher in the next attempt, not defeat us from trying the next time. Rise. When I hear the word rise, I think of two things: a quote by Maya Angelou and a song by Audra Day. “We rise by lifting others.” We have somehow equated life with competition, and no one can do things better than we can. Success is defined by what mainstream thinks of as success instead of making it on an individual basis. For us to find success in this life, we have to be willing to celebrate the success of others when we have not found ours yet, as well as being there to pick someone up after their falls and failures, and not rub our success in their face. “I’ll rise up, and I’ll do it a thousand times again.” Too many times, when we are knocked down, we feel like we do not have the strength to stand back up and stand tall. In our vulnerability, we see life through a new perspective from the ground up, and the view is always better after we rise from the valley. Heal. When we are torn and broken down by the world and the people in it, we owe it to ourselves to leave the past in the past and heal from whatever hurt we endured. I hate to say it, but sometimes it takes getting hurt by people, and even those we thought could never do such a thing, is a necessary experience we must deal with to have an understanding of character and learning what true friendship means. Being hurt by people we may have once cared about is a tough lesson to work through, but knowing when to cut ties for our healing can be the only option remaining. We cannot stay in a place with people who are willing to hurt us and expect us to stay when they would not either. It means more to leave and heal than to stay and continue to bleed energy and commitment. There will be pain either way, but time will heal wounds eventually. Scars may last, but they will fade as the years go on, and as we let go of whatever hurt us in the first place. Overcome. Without having struggles, the triumph would be meaningless. If the things in life came easy, there would be no chance for growth, and that would be to our detriment. When we fall, we must get back up. When we break, we have to put the pieces back together. When we fail, we will find a better way. When we are down, we will rise. When someone hurts us, we will heal. When obstacles stand in our way, we will overcome. If the cycles of life teach us anything, it is that we will always overcome. Stay Curious, Kayla ©Inquisitive Perspectives 2019
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