Leap of Faith

There is so much I have to learn from falling.

 

For instance? I recently took a nasty spill in the middle of the street. I may have tripped over my dog. Okay, I did trip over my dog. I skinned my knee and relearned exactly how much that really hurts. I don't expect I will ever again say, "It's okay. You just took a little skin off. It's fine." Lesson learned.

 

There seem to be some bigger lessons in there too. Luckily, my children are very good teachers.

 

I spent many years, in school, learning to avoid falling on my face. Both physically and academically. I was a good student and I successfully flew under the radar. But I wasn't really flying. You don't exactly take risks or test yourself when you carry the weight of a fear of failure and humiliation that the school system heaps upon your shoulders. But what happens if you drop those words and their emotional weight?

 

You can fly!

 

Because falling is so very much like flying.

 

I watch my children take risks that make my heart flutter. I want to cast out that maternal safety net and stop the inevitable hurt.  Sometimes there is hesitation. Sometimes there are tears. But it turns out, that hurt isn't as inevitable, or as terrible, as it seemed. They learn to fall. They become stronger and more resilient. They pick themselves up and leap higher!

 

As they fall, there is a moment of flying.

 

I am learning, from them, to embrace falling. I am learning to embrace the giddy, dizzying sensation before the skinned knee. I am learning to pick myself up, rinse off the blood, and leap higher.