The Most Important Thing ...

The book "Half Broke Horses" by Jeannette Walls was filled with wisdom which spoke to me. If only I had a memory, I would remember these quotes and incorporate them into my daily conversation. Instead, I shall write a little blog about some quotable quotes about falling...

"The most important thing in life is learning how to fall." ~ Jeannette Walls, Half Broke Horses

The main character within this book grows up on a ranch and breaking horses is one of the many skills she learns. She is a formidable character and doesn't turn her back on hard things. She just does them because someone has to.

In the course of breaking horses, one must fall. Time and time again. The main character within the story broke her arm during one such fall and her father doesn't molly coddle her after her fall.

"When someone's wounded, the first order of business is to stop the bleeding. You can figure out later how best to help them heal." ~ Jeannette Walls, Half Broke Horses

Then, he teaches her the proper way to fall. You were too tense. The secret to falling is to just go limp ...

He has more advice but I tuned into my own experience after I read this sentence. I substituted the word "fail" instead of "fall" and I immediately knew her father was teaching his daughter more than how to fall off a horse.

When a person falls (or fails) in life, the worst thing you can do is to go all tense. If you can relax, go limp and just go with the fall (or fail), you will fare much better.

"The dangerous falls were the ones that happened so fast you didn't have time to react." ~ Jeannette Walls, Half Broke Horses

My life quickly rewound to the failed moments within my life. I tense up. I stop thinking. I stop breathing. I stop rationalizing. My immediate reaction is paralysis mixed with a dose of terror, anger and/or regret. I have noticed that it is not until I walk away, remove myself from the scene of the "failure" (or fall), I can feel the pressure subside, my shoulders relax and my answers start to come to me.

The most important thing in life is learning how to fall. To fall in a manner in which you can pick yourself up, brush yourself off and carry on the best way you are capable of moving forward is best achieved by relaxing and just going with the fall.