I love the Olympics, and this morning while watching gymnastics, a young gal lost her grip on the uneven bars, resulting in her falling off. She got right back up, chalked her hands and continued with her routine. Was she disappointed and bit pissed at herself? I’m sure she was. She had worked so hard to get there to slip and fall. The rest of her routine was likely more challenging than the opening part, as her fall was likely on constant replay in her brain as she continued through her moves. When she was done the commentator acknowledged that she would be disappointed, but what he said after that really made sense to me and can be applied to any and all of us when dealing with disappointment, losing our grip or falling. He said, “She’ll have to put this into a small box and let it go so she can continue on.”
Do you ever have those days where you have such a solid grip on things that it feels like nothing can go wrong? Those days are awesome! You feel accomplished, confident, and your day just runs so much smoother. It’s exhilarating!
Until you lose your grip and fall….
If you’re anything like me, when this happens, I feel my confidence drop, my mood change, my focus becomes a bit more scattered, and whatever I’m working on becomes so much more challenging. I get frustrated and critical of myself simply because I made a mistake, or something fell through the cracks that shouldn’t have, or I didn’t do something exactly how I originally wanted. The reality is my friend, that we are all human. We are all from time to time, going to make mistakes, lose our grip and fall. But we can’t hold onto that slip, we need to put it into a small box and let it go, just like that commentator said. If not, before we know it, that slip and fall will completely de-rail us from our goal. We need to get back up, re-chalk our hands, or dust off our knees, hold our head high and keep moving forward.
Whether this happens to you while working, in your day-to-day routine or in your health and wellness journey, recognize it, address it, put it in the damn small box and move forward. The great thing I love about the sunrise each day, is it’s another fresh start. A new 24 hours to try another kick at the can. Don’t let a slip de-rail you, take it as the opportunity to re-assess and find solutions for yourself. Why? Because you, your work and your goals are worth it!
