If you fall, get up!

Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in getting up every time we do. - Confucius

Confucius was a very wise man indeed. Consider the quote above and then think about your own life. Have you ever failed at anything? I hope you answered YES because surely we have all failed at something from time to time. Now think about something that you failed to succeed at or simply could not excel in ten years ago. Did your life come to an end? Are you still suffering from embarrassment or lost of status because of it? Does it keep you from going to sleep at night? Or, has it simply been forgotten like so many of those little stumbles that we all experience during the course of a lifetime.


Too many people spend their entire lives fretting, fussing, and worrying about making mistakes. They are debilitated by the need to do everything right, (read: perfectionist.) Even those who are not true perfectionists, fear the wrath of their employers, parents, family, or friends, should they do something wrong or not measure up somehow. The fear of failure or “falling” as Confucius calls it prevents them from living a relaxed, contented life. Their activities become laboured and they live in a world of continuous nervousness and sensitivity to the slightest of affronts or put-downs. They are the “stress-cases” and the “overly-sensitive ones” that we hear about so often in the twenty-first century.


As the wise-one said, “If you fall...get up!” Put your failures behind you and move on to a better day. Remember that your failure is much more significant to you than it is to anyone else. People are generally not staring at you or talking about you behind your back because of a few minor mistakes in the course of a lifetime. Most people are oblivious to most of your failures and while you are worrying about a past you cannot change, they have long-since forgotten all about you and moved on to other things. The only one who really cares about your failures is you!


Almost anything can be redone, repaired or reactivated. If it didn’t work today, it might work tomorrow. Turn your failures into successes by trying a new approach, asking for help or doing something completely different. Erase the sting of a failure by being successful at something else. Instead of moping around and feeling sorry for yourself...get up, dust yourself off, and aggressively attack another project.


You have probably heard the expressions, nothing succeeds like success and there is no better revenge than success, so the next time you fail, think of it not as a failure but as a minor setback. When you immediately start again, your drive and determination will be noticed by others and amazingly, your failure will be seen not as a failure at all, but as a catalyst for your success. It will become your glory... Confucius had it right!


All the Best!


Wayne Kehl