The Story of When I Fell + 7 Things to Remember About Falling

It was on the highway that I fell. (Well, a little bit off from it.) It hurt. (Ouch. Ouch. Ouch.)

The truth is I was jogging and as I'm getting older, I don't pick my feet up as high as I used to. So I hit the curb with my left foot. (It's still sore a week later.) And I was down on my face in a second. (On my left cheek to be exact.) Pow! Scraaaaape.

It's amazing what goes through your mind in such a moment. I have been in accidents before and experienced the proverbial "life flashing before your eyes" moment. What flashed through my mind in this case was the following: "Am I hurt? No." Next flashed: "Did anyone see me?" I felt a little embarrassed. The final flash: "Will anyone stop to help me?" I have had people NOT do anything when I've fallen before (in another setting).

Being that I wasn't quote "hurt" I decided to sit up quickly so the cars driving by that might be concerned would know I was alright. As I sat up a guy stuck his head out his truck and asked, "Are you okay?" I signaled I was. He drove on. Eventually, I got up, limped home and my wife wasn't really happy hearing what happened. (I took the next day off from jogging, by the way.)

And I guess the thing about this fall of mine that I've thought about most is this: You can be going about your merry way ~ la la, la la laaaa ~ and whammo! It comes out of nowhere. You hit the deck.

Life can end that quickly, too...

7 Things to Remember About Falling:

1. The pain of a past fall can last a long time.
2. Everybody falls. Not everybody gets back up.
3. You can prepare yourself for some "falls."
4. How you deal with a "fall" is an example to people (especially your kids).
5. There are people all around who've fallen who need us to help them back up.
6. Some people are headed for a fall, but they won't listen to your warning.
7. It is possible to recover from even the worst of falls.

You might also be interested in:

• 7 Things to Remember About Mistakes (plus 1 bonus)
• 3 Things to Remember About Starting Over