When you’re on the floor
When was your lowest moment? When did you really feel that you’d reached the bottom of the barrel? Was it a work matter? Was it a family matter? Regardless of what happened, the feeling is one you never forget--the feeling of being on your knees. To say something is humbling is to give an experience human qualities, this is called personification. When you personify an event or occasion, it becomes that much easier to identify. When you say something is humbling, you’re saying that it stripped you of your pride and taught you a lesson, probably a painful one.
Life’s ups and downs mirror that of a heart monitor, the constant rise and fall becomes reassuring until the landscape changes. Suddenly your mountain top experience is leveled in an avalanche and you’re marooned in a valley with little hope of rescue. Unpredictability and chance are two of mankind’s greatest weaknesses, because there’s very little we can do about it. Science says that we cry out of frustration over any other emotion. When you think about it, that’s pretty accurate. We’re frustrated when we’re sad, when we’re hurt, and when we’re infants all we know is frustration because we can’t communicate what we need or want--but that’s a discussion for another time. We never know when the news is going to hit us or the levy is going to break, but when it does it leaves us on the floor.
As callous as it is to hear and as little as you probably want to hear it, there’s something to be gained from loss. Our failures are our greatest teachers. Edison often mentioned how he discovered a thousand ways not to make a lightbulb before he found the way to make a lightbulb. LIfe is about finding a way, through all the valleys and mountaintops until you’ve reached the point where you’ve achieved your potential. You will have setbacks, disappointments, obstacles--you name it, but the one thing you’ll need to find for yourself is support--people you invest in, people you flock together with, and those who you’ve come to love. When you’re on the floor you may have no idea what you’ll take with you when you stand back up. Being on your knees is a position of prayer and submission. It may be God giving you a wake-up call or asking you to trust Him. One thing you should always remember is that you can lose all of your wealth and health, and all you have left is your character--make sure it’s character worth having.
