Falling is hard - especially from a tree!
Many years ago, as a young teenager, I lived in a small town that had a creek just behind our house. My brothers and sisters had some much fun trying to jump over the creek when the water was low and dreamed of having a rope with a tire tied to it to swing across the creek. Now that would be fun! Then one day, our parents brought home an old tire and a super long thick rope to make our dreams come true!
As we all looked at the rope then up to the branch of the tree, we pondered – how will we get this rope up into that tall tree. The tree was probably 50-75 feet tall – and seemed like 150-200 feet in the eyes of a teenager. It was way too tall to climb. So, we came up with a plan – I don’t know whose idea this was – but it’s ridiculous to think about today. We would tie one end of the rope onto the hitch of our dad’s truck and the other end would be a loop to hoist one of us up the tree to tie the rope on the branch. Everyone got excited as I put my foot in the loop and dad pushed on the gas to move the truck forward and hoist me up to the top of the tree branch. I made it. I climbed over the branch and wrapped the rope around and tied it in a knot. It was now secure and I was ready to go down… but how? I can now see why I am not a fan of heights and found myself holding onto the branch for dear life. My family was all encouraging me and shouting for me to grab the rope with both hands, and wrap my legs around the rope to go down the rope very slowly, and they kept encouraging me with the words “very slowly”. So, I built up the confidence to climb down. I tried not to look down… I was going slowly at the start, then all of a sudden, I started picking up steam…my feet were no longer wrapped around the rope and my hands started to burn… the faster I went down, the hotter my hands became before getting so hot – and about the halfway point - I let go! Next thing I know, I was on the ground and my family was asking if I was okay. I couldn’t move – it had knocked the breath out of me - I was out! I could hear voices of worry, but then I opened my eyes and saw everyone. They were excited I was okay and even more excited we now had a tire swing installed! I remember seeing everyone run to the tire swing calling out “I’m first” “I’m next”… and taking turns swinging across the creek. It was a place we would make lots of great memories together with our family and lots of friends!
I share this story today as a reminder that we all fall, we fall in our personal life, we fall in our career, we fall when we lose a job, or fall in our relationships – we just fall. Falling and failure is part of the growth process. It’s not fun – but we get back up. Many times, the experiences lead us to something better. I now have great memories swinging across that creek as a young boy with my brothers’ sisters and lots of friends… These were special times – but the experiences healed the fall. There will be many times in our careers when we fall - like when we are not selected to be a supplier, or don’t get the job or promotion, or don’t get picked to be the speaker, or fail a certification, or lose a candidate we really wanted… and on and on and on! Just remember, “falls hurt, but tire swings heal”!
What’s your tire swing? Keep climbing my friends… the best is yet to come!
Call to action: Have you fallen in your career? Share your story? I would enjoy hearing from you… and share this video with someone or post on social and maybe it will help remind others that we all fall --- and we all get back up! Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMuGHDpt26s
This is “Move to Inspire” with Bruce Waller! For more information, call 972-389-5673, or email bwaller@goarmstrong.com or check out my social media Facebook and Twitter page. Also, check out www.BruceWaller.com to review my leadership books “Life in the Leadership Lane”, “Find Your Lane” or pick up a copy of my journal “Milemarkers” to start recording your everyday. All books are available on amazon. Be sure to subscribe to my YOUTUBE channel to watch the video podcasts and other messages to help you lead in the workplace! “Life in the Leadership Lane podcast is available on your favorite podcast platform including APPLE, GOOGLE, and SPOTIFY. Interested in a book club? Join our book club “CLIMB” on Facebook.
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