We’ve all seen the commercials that gave birth to the catchphrase, “Help! I’ve fallen and I can’t get up!” Since the 1980s, it has been on television, shirts, hats, songs and just about everywhere imaginable. If people were like Weebles, when we fall getting back up would not be a problem. Weebles are egg-shaped toys that became popular back in the 1970s. Their bottom is larger than their top and it is weighted. This causes them to stand upright. Even if they get knocked over, they immediately pop right back upright.
Everyone, at some time or another, has been knocked down or fallen. A fall may not necessarily be a problem, but when we fall and can’t or don’t get back up, that is a serious problem. A fall does not mean the same thing for all people. A fall for a 2-year old does not mean the same thing that it might to a 102-year-old person. A fall for an elderly person may indeed be deadly. That’s one reason why someone my age plays pickleball rather than football. While watching a football game, someone quipped, “If I got knocked down like that, I wouldn’t be able to get out of bed the next day.” Honestly, I probably wouldn’t be able to get back up on the field! That’s why a 35-year-old football player is considered old.
When we were learning to walk, falling was about as much a part of the process as walking itself. At first, someone had to help us back up, but eventually we learned to get up by ourselves. I remember falling as a child and jumping back up almost as quickly as I had fallen. A tumble on a bicycle usually meant not only jumping back up as rapidly as possible, but also looking around to see who saw that. If someone did see it, our pride may have said, “I’m okay, that didn’t hurt,” even when it did. Sometimes we were bearing false witness against our own selves!
Bear in mind, there is more than one way to take a fall. Of course, we may fall physically, but we may also fall emotionally, spiritually or in some other way. The question that comes to my mind is not as much will we fall, but what will we do when we do fall? I usually try not to preach in my column, but let me answer with four encouragements: 1). Don’t Give Up. Don’t think that this is the end and there is no hope. Don’t throw in the towel, so to speak. Always remember that a fall is not always the end…it can be a new beginning or another opportunity. When we fail, it does not mean we are a failure. 2). Do Get Up. Sometimes it’s hard to get back up after we’ve fallen. Sometimes it’s even painful. Sometimes we do need help. We may have to call 911. We may need to call for Lassie. We may need medical, spiritual or emotional attention. Don’t give up, but determine to get up! 3). Do Get Over It. Whatever healing may be needed, allow yourself to heal. Don’t lie there wallowing in your hurt and pain. If you need to forgive someone for knocking you down, forgive them…whether they ask or not. 4). Do Move On. There is more life to be lived, so please live it. Don’t sit down unless you have absolutely no other option. Find something positive to do and do it. We may be down, but please get up, get over it and get on!
Bill King can be reached at bkpreach@yahoo.com or 334-728-5514 (office).
