No one wants to fall. When we feel off balance in reality or in life metaphorically we reach out to grab onto things. We make instantaneous decisions to avoid landing on our rears and risking pain. Imagine yourself in your office or den, climbing a small step-ladder to reach a book on the top shelf. Even on the top step, the book is just out of reach. You lean a little too far and start to fall. Frantically, as you lose your footing, you grab onto the bookshelf to stop yourself. In this split second, reactionary decision, you do not have time to make sure the shelf is stable itself. You just reach for it. Then as you fall to the floor, the shelf comes toppling down on top of you. Now, in addition to added bruises and scrapes, you have an entire bookshelf to reorganize. Well, which was worse: the original fall, or the subsequent complication of the bookshelf crashing onto you?

We all fall sometimes, and it often hurts when we do, but instead of starting a chain of reactionary events, we can shape our future in a positive way by allowing ourselves to land. Yes, land. From the ground we can step back and take a look at the situation. We can give it some thought and planning, and learn from the experience. When we go after that book again, or whatever we reach for, perhaps we can create a more stable foundation before we reach out so far next time.

By learning from our mistakes and making proactive choices in our future, we can greatly affect the success rate we create in our lives. Falling isn’t failing. It is our chance to build a better ladder to our goals.

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© Andrea O'Neill, 2001 The intellectual property contained in this document is the sole property of the author. You may forward this to anyone you wish in its full and complete form, using the PDF download in the left sidebar. No portions of this newsletter may be reproduced without the sole permission of the author.