Get Back Up Again...and Again...And Again...

In Proverbs 24:16, the author briefly mentions that "...A just man falls seven times..."

Growing up, I always thought that that was a strange proverb because one would think that a "just" man would never fall....They would never have a set back....They would never be bamboozled or fall into a trap...They would know how NOT to fall down...

As strange as this may sound, I took comfort in that belief. "So long as I do right..." I would often say to myself., "...I will be immune from falling...from failing..." And, lo, 33 years of life, One hubby, two children, a cat, an ailing mother with dementia and several setbacks later, I now see that the wisdom in this verse....

Many times, we walk around with the slanted belief that doing good makes us immune from experiencing bad and, often, trying times.. And as result, we tend to believe that if a fellow friend or colleague has fallen on such times (that we have never had the displeasure of experiencing) , it is , at least partially, due to some grand quality that we possess and that they do not possess.... You see how silly this sounds, in black and white, huh?

The truth is that you can be as just or as unjust as you desire....and you are still no more or no less immune from sad or disappointing times from happening to you... So then, what , truly, makes the difference between the "just" and the "unjust" ? The difference is that ".... a righteous man falls seven times, and rises again..." That's it! THAT is the difference!

If you were hoping that you would never fall...or never get tired....or never suffer and endure heartaches and setbacks... think again! What makes us unbeatable is NOT the fact that we have never fallen but that although we have fallen several times... WE KEEP GETTING BACK UP!

So, perhaps you are in a rut, in your life or in your career. Maybe you have just suffered a shocking blow to your future plans and dreams.... Or perhaps that million dollar plan, that you were certain would never fail, went down in a million bursting in flames... Whatever it is, I would encourage you to dust yourself off...and give it another go.

Whatever you need to do to get yourself together ( i.e. scream, cry, meditate, taking a day off from work...ect.), do it! Go over all of the things that went right, in your endeavors, and take an honest evaluation as to what went wrong ....and how you can improve.

Going down has never made anyone a failure, but staying down will. My grandmother used to say : "It's okay to fall down seven times, sweetie...so long as you get back up eight!" . Get back again....and again....and again... until you've reached the finish line... And each time that you get up...become more determined, wiser, and stronger than before! Get back up.... AGAIN!