Have You Been Knocked Off Or Knocked Down

Life is going to knock you down, sometimes repeatedly. It's up to us to get back on the horse and find a way to enjoy the ride. Sometimes it is difficult, even feeling like it's impossible. However, life will only keep you down if you let it.

“It ain’t about how hard you hit; it’s about how hard you can get hit, and keep moving forward. It’s how much you can take, and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done.”

— Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone)

We've all taken hits. What makes people different, what separates them is what comes next. After taking the hit, move forward. When you took on the impossible circumstances that life throws at you, did you continue moving forward? That's how winners do it. They continue to move forward, no matter what.

There has to be a process to taking the hits, moving forward, and winning. We may still be discovering the process, and it's different for everyone. Ultimately, we have to find our way in this world. Nobody is going to do it for us. But, by using the basics that have worked for other people that came before us, or our peers, we can put our spin on things and come out with a big win in the end.

Acceptance And Forgiveness

Any problem that I’ve encountered requires accepting that it was a problem. First, we have to recognize that we have a problem. We have to face problems head-on. Evading or ignoring our problems won’t work.

Accept that your problems exist, even if you don’t want to deal with them right away. You don’t have to be okay with the problem to be okay with them being real. Accept their existence, and then find solutions. Keeping your problems buried deep inside yourself is a much worse plan than accepting them. It’s unhealthy for your mind and your soul.

Once you’ve accepted that you have a problem, there’s an equally important step in the early phases of dealing with them.

We have to be able to accept ourselves for who we are. By doing this, we create a chance to be a better version of ourselves despite past mistakes. Have compassion for others in life, but most importantly, for yourself.

There’s no changing the past. The past is gone. The only thing that we can do about the past is to give it a proper burial.

“The past is dead; let it bury its dead, its hopes and its aspirations; before you lies the future-a future full of golden promise.”

— Jefferson Davis

If we don’t let go of the past and all the burden it carries, we’ll never be free to enjoy the experience of new things.

Assessment

Moving forward from problems requires assessment. Once you’ve accepted the past, you have to figure out the road in front of you. Like a road map, it’s time to chart out the path you’ll use to get from where you are today to where you want to be tomorrow, weeks from now, and years from now. When doing an assessment of the life we’ve lived, where we are currently, and where we want to go, we find changes we must make.

Finding the changes we have to make requires introspection. Self-introspection will be your tool shop to create the best version of you.

This is a necessity because awareness is not our strongest quality these days. We are always in a rush, thinking about yesterday and our regrets, or worrying about what tomorrow might bring. Things are never as bad as we imagine they are, though.

While doing my life assessment, I found that one of my biggest shortcomings was being present. What’s yours? I’ll challenge you to take just a moment and identify your biggest shortcoming. What’s the first thing that comes to mind? Most of us know them. We just push them aside because we’re worried about other things.

In my case, I need to be more mindful of living in the present moment, focusing on what I’m doing today, and not spending an abundance of time planning for tomorrow. Overly worrying about the future detracts from one’s ability to be present in the now.

Action Time

When you have done your assessment and found the things you have done wrong in the past, put a name on them, it's time to take action. Like climbing back on a horse, you have to take that first action and approach the horse. The same goes for improving in life. At some point, you have to put that first foot forward and approach the horse that threw you.

Whether it be on a computer, a tablet, a cellphone, or in a journal you keep with you, it's important to make notes on where you're going. Identify what works and what doesn't. Then you'll have an easier time navigating toward your best self.

Don't Fear Failure

Henry Ford once said that failure is the opportunity to begin again, more intelligently. That said, when you look in the mirror, you see that you're still here. Don't fear failure because you'll be able to try again tomorrow.

Writing down your thoughts on your day, making notes on what works at the end of the day, and where you might have done better, gives you a tool to attack tomorrow, more intelligently. You got back on the horse after it bucked you the first time. Never lose your enthusiasm to do better, improve, and achieve a big win.

"Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm."

-Winston Churchill

Closing Thoughts

I've been knocked down, kicked hard, and made the biggest mistakes a person can make, short of ending up a criminal. It's easy to get knocked down by life and it's sometimes hard to get back up. Getting back up and in the fight is how you take a negative and turn it into a positive. You learn from your past, manage your present, and create a future that you desire.

As long as there's a chance, anybody can find themselves getting back on the horse. We try, we fail, we try, we fail, but we aren't failures until we quit trying.

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