Fall down seven times, stand up eight… STRENGTH

 

“Fall down seven times, stand up eight,” defines STRENGTH, in my eyes. The phrase probably seems too simple? But, I have thought about it and thought about it in preparation for this month’s Smitten By post, and it’s what I keep coming back to. The concept includes the power of faith (because why get up if you didn’t have faith that something could be better or different?) and perseverance, which leads to strong results.

 

 

 

 

Yesterday, I had two “thirty-something” divorced girlfriends whose current dating relationships ended. One girlfriend’s relationship went through a normal ending as they decided they were not a marriage match. The other girlfriend was informed by email that he was breaking up with her. I also recently heard of a man breaking up with his fiancé by email the month before their wedding! Keep in mind that contrary to its appearance, this is not junior high dating, but rather dating as grown adults. Regardless of how the relationship ends, it is hard. I don’t think that anyone can understand how hard dating is as a divorced adult and what strength it takes to be simply open to going on another date (ahem, ever,) until they are in those shoes.

 
It is a well-founded cliché to “not judge until you have walked a mile in someone else’s shoes.” Anything that is hard to you is hard for a reason! That should not be invalidated; pain is pain. As I think of my friends’ lives, I think of the varied responsibilities and figurative mountains that we each face climbing.

 
I think of my friend, the mother, who can’t face another load of laundry on top of her large-family responsibilities, let alone the Mt. Everest of dirty clothes that has accumulated since the mountain of clothes cleaned two days ago. I think of my friend with five children, a husband who works to support their family in a way that takes him away from the home often, and a new-found rat infestation problem with electrical wiring damage. I think of women who are working mothers out of the home and who come home exhausted to only begin the night-shift including the spiritual feeding, literal feeding, and emotional feeding of her family. I think of the widow that loses her husband at age 65 after 45 years with her husband, but facing a life-time of “alone” ahead of her until she joins him in the hereafter. I think of my never-married, single friends who long to find their special someone and give their hearts, talents, dreams, and hopes to a marriage. I think of the unhappily married woman who can’t understand why her husband steps out on her and the family, refuses to fulfill his bread-winning or any financial contribution responsibilities, abuses her in some way, and/or treats her as if she is invisible and unimportant. I think of the parent who is told that their child is diagnosed with a serious illness. I think of the mother who has longed for children and after in-vitro fertilization finds out that one of the twins will never survive outside of her womb and if delivers early, could jeopardize the other twin’s survival. I think of the mother who is sick, but simply doesn’t have time for it or the ability to take a sick day with her family.

 
There are so many challenges with life. So, that is why I define strength as “getting up and showing up.” Sometimes, I give myself a break and recognize that it wasn’t my best day, but I showed up. We are all going to fall down, but make sure that you get up again, quickly. Don’t stay down. Then strive to show up (strength) with some happiness. Good things truly happen every day… some days you just have to look harder than others.

 

 

 

 

Brook Hammond- Attorney and

Motivational Author & Speaker

Question:  “Why do you want to listen to anything I have to say?”  Answer:  “I haven’t a clue.”   But, I think we likely have something fundamental in common, which is that our lives don’t look and/or feel like we expected them to.  Each day I am learning to find joy in the unexpected.

Professionally, I have earned the right to belong to an exclusive attorney group called the “Million Dollar Advocate Forum.” I am a trial attorney and have been practicing personal injury law for ten years (licensed in both Nevada and Utah.)  A fun tidbit about me is that I am a part of Nevada’s history as Miss Nevada USA 1995, and a motivational youth speaker since 1991.  I am a monthly contributor to PRISTeen Magazine, a teen fashion magazine that focuses on girls’ inner beauty.

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