I love the Fall. The crisp, fresh air is a welcome break from the heat and humidity of the summer. The landscape is morphing from green to warm shades of red, orange and yellow, and the local apple orchard is serving up samples of apple cider donuts along with a fresh cup of cider. The first time I cover my tank top with a sweatshirt made feminine with a colorful scarf, I’m about as happy as I can be.
As fall creeps in, it’s always been a time of new beginnings for me. When I was a little kid, anticipation caused me to hop from foot to foot as I waited for the school bus that would whisk me away to new adventures. Many significant life changes have happened in the fall including career changes, the birth of my sons, and the marriage to my husband, Rick.
Falling Behind, Falling Out, Falling On My Face
In the last few months, I’ve thought a lot about falling. I felt as though I was falling behind because I was so busy making it impossible to write blogs for Let My Legacy Be Love. I experienced a falling out with someone I’ve known all my life. And lately, I’ve spent some time considering the possibility of falling on my face. You see, I’ve been working on a project with Jacky Vimislik, a wonderful woman I met earlier this year. Jacky and I have worked tirelessly to establish The Breakthrough Squad, which is a program that focuses on helping others identify and release old stories and unseen obstacles. We’ve challenged ourselves to find the right presentation, the right audience, and the right social channels to post our materials. We believe our program is well-balanced and will be helpful, and so far, we’ve gotten nothing but very positive feedback. However, there’s still that little voice in the far recesses of my mind asking, “Are you doing your best? You don’t want to fall on your face.” You may have heard something similar; the taunting little voice questioning your ability and hinting that maybe, just maybe you’re not good enough. It’s annoying, and quite honestly, I make a habit of ignoring it. But this morning it got me thinking.
Let Me Fall
As I ran up the hill in the woods behind our house, I was thinking about a song that was shared with me by my friend Pascale last week. The song, from Cirque du Soleil, is called, “Let Me Fall.” As the two of us listened, tears streamed down my face because in the lyrics I saw not only myself but so many of the people I’ve worked with through the years.
I’ve attached the video for you here.
My favorite part of the lyric is:
Just let me fall.
Someone I am is waiting for my courage,
The one I want, the one I will become
Will catch me.
Interesting, right? If you’ve ever had a moment in your life when you feel the proverbial rug has been pulled out from under you, I’m sure you can relate. You might have lost a loved one, a job, your health, or your money. In my case, I lost my marriage and my job only months after my youngest son left for college. It was terrifying; like falling without a parachute. I will admit that I didn’t handle it with much grace. I was flailing and crying and grabbing for anything that might stop my fall. But it wasn’t until I finally found my courage and allowed myself to surrender to the fall, to feel the pain and to go through the necessary steps that my life changed. How? Well, as the lyric says, the person I had always hoped I would become was the one who saved me.
This morning while focusing on trying to stay on my feet as I tripped over roots during my run, I thought a lot about falling on my face. It was then I realized that falling on our faces isn’t a bad thing because when we fall forward, we still end up one or two steps ahead of where we were when we began. It’s not the end of the world when a possibility doesn’t work out. There’s no such thing as failure because adversity or not getting what we hoped for helps us grow. With courage, we become the person that will save us from our fall—what a delicious thought.
Enjoy the season change! And please check out the events section on my website. There’s lots of good stuff going on.
