Blissful Blunders

TODAY'S QUOTE: "Whenever you make a mistake or get knocked down by life, don't look back at it too long. Mistakes are life's way of teaching you. Your capacity for occasional blunders is inseparable from your capacity to reach your goals. No one wins them all, and your failures, when they happen, are just part of your growth. Shake off your blunders. How will you know your limits without an occasional failure? Never quit. Your turn will come."... Og Mandino

When you fall take a minute to catch your breath... take a minute to attend to any injury... take a minute to regain your footing... take a minute to identify what tripped you up... take a minute to clear it from the path... take a minute to dust yourself off... take a minute to stretch out the kinks... take a minute to get your bearings... take a minute to give thanks for possessing the strength rise again... take a minute to gather impressions and notions to ponder as you travel forward... then continue your journey.

Ten minutes will seem to be way too short a time to some and much too long to others. Some will spring back up and attempt a sprint, only to trip again over the very same obstacle. Some will sit feeling sorrow for so long that a puddle of pity will form, adding a burden they didn't possess until they produced it for themselves. Some will try to skip a step or more in an attempt to streamline the process. Some will add steps galore until the number alone overwhelms any notion of moving on. And some precious few will follow the pattern set and stroll away with a straight back, lifted chin, and eyes that sparkle with anticipation.

Some will waste time trying to make their journey easier. When they finally move... if they move at all... they simply shuffle along, head down searching madly for any danger ahead. Some will start building a monument to their misfortune. Once it's complete they'll worship at its base and give up on any notion of moving on. They'll erect a squatters shelter and spend the rest of their existence telling their sad story to any and all who pass by. Few ever join them in worship there. Most of us recognize the error of allowing any short term fumble to become a life long ending. Most of us move forward and quickly pass both the squatter and the shufflers up ahead.

Some of us may slow down enough to give encouragement as we pass. Some of us may call names, even though we shouldn't. Some of us will leave a trail of some sort, just in case the one's left behind come to their senses and decide to give up on giving up. We'll all react in one fashion or another, but stopping won't ever be a choice of the sensible. The determined among the walking wounded will be driven forward at a steady pace. They won't take the risk of becoming infected by any negatives. They may leave a map. They may leave a clue. But they won't nurse an unwilling patient or try to alter a mindset determined to be hopeless.

They fall as hard as anyone else, but they rise with a grace all of their own. They may want to travel with a companion, but they know to choose wisely who they match their steps beside. They'll eventually find someone who clearly knows where they're heading if they avoid the ones who focus only on where they've been. They'll see some so determined to look at the past that they walk backwards. They may warn of the dangers of cliffs and sink holes up ahead, but they won't stay to save someone so determined to fail. The walking wounded who see themselves as warriors will keep traveling and learning from their failures. And hope of an eternal sort will be their constant companion even if their journey is destined to be solitary.

THINK ABOUT IT... LET IT RIDE... THEN YOU DECIDE!!!

© GLENDA ALEXANDER