If
you've ever failed to achieve some goal you've set out to attain, so
carefully planned out and brightly shining in your own mind, or have
ever been suddenly dismissed by the person or people you’ve put so
much effort and consideration into pursuing some path together with
(friendly, romantic, business), or have ever been struck with a
spontaneous, profound realization of reality you never saw coming,
then you must know what it feels like to sink down into the depths of
the awkward, uncertain musings of uncertainty and near-overwhelming
anxiety.
You must know what it's like to feel that sting of skinned knees as
the strength of your core falters and the pillars of your emotional
foundations collapse to the earth.
But
there is hope even here,
as you stare at the dirt surrounding you as
you reach out to grapple something,
anything of substance.
The acceptance of personal weaknesses, when coupled with a positive
outlook, is such a beautiful combination with so
much potential. On one hand, you have the realization of a weakness,
a fault and, in turn, the means to do something about it
because you have identified
its existence.
This is the first and foremost step. Then, on the other hand, you
have the hope which must exist within you and the goal for what you
wanted so desperately
to make
of it. Our inherent
intelligence allows us to establish goals and devise the means to
achieve them, and identify with rational cause and effect analysis
the source of a shortcoming. Whether or not the most direct blame
appears to be within ourselves, our own obvious weaknesses are
perhaps the best places of all to begin; this is from where there is
not much room but
to improve.
When you find yourself down on your
battered knees it's that much clearer what needs to be done to stand
right back up, now that you do not have that luxury you had
taken for granted. The dirt and
rubble tearing at exposed skin serves as a powerful demonstration of
solidarity in something so persistently unchanging, yourself as a
unique individual with a unique mind and unique pursuits despite
having fallen due to some circumstance,
almost as if the earth itself is saying to you "Get back up.
There is only pain and boredom down here where nothing ever really
changes on your timescale."
You have a mind, and a will, and the recognition of pain and the
boundless joy of success, so use that to your advantage. Find
it. Something dragged you
down, or shoved your over, and something can help to pull you back
up. Oftentimes it is entirely within your own mind.
But
within the more effective of these reactions is where the beauty
lies: hope and determination and perseverance
in the face of tragedy, no matter how tragic. And so even the darkest
of times, the lowest of lows, the most skinned of knees, have their
value if you just open your mind to what they can
and should
reveal to you, and make that exerted effort to identify and properly
deal with.
There
is just something about life in the pain of thrashed knees…
something so deeply beautiful in its potential, in its revealing of
failure upon you, and in the pride and thrill of overcoming it. Don’t
ever fall down without gleaning some sense of how to avoid a repeated
occurrence.
And
then sometimes it isn't even
necessarily sadness, or any sort
of tragedy, that brings you to your knees… sometimes it is simple
awe and admiration, or any sort of overwhelming rush of emotions.
Some bit of powerful news might have been delivered unexpectedly, or
some intellectual pursuit may have at last been revealed to you in
its full implications—perhaps
a profound realization, an epiphany so staggering to your
understanding of the immensity of the universe around you strikes at
your core and your legs surrender their proud stature in submission
to the awesome might of the rational world.
I
find this simple act so
poetic.
The beauty of existence and all of its complexities can often be
overwhelming. It’s like a bow to the Earth, this primal gesture of
submission, to nature itself, like saying “I understand that I am
but the tiniest of all things in comparison.” Perhaps this is a
subconscious way of dealing with the staggering, overwhelming rush of
the intricacies in understanding the world all around you as this
sensation brings to you a vision of your true place among all the
factors of the Universe through a momentarily amplified sense of
scale. As if such an acceptance forces an emotion of such humility
that the only thing your body and mind can do to cope with it all is
to collapse halfway to the Earth, where your weaknesses are the
constructive opposites of your strengths and your mind can recollect
itself as it takes it all in.
Once
this effect has diminished enough for you to regain your senses, you
hopefully have gained some sort of insight into yourself and into the
importance of your place, and
what led you to this circumstance.
You may seem insignificant at times like these, but we (presumably)
alone have the capacity to
appreciate our existence in this way, and to truly make the best of
it. Our potential for thought is limitless, as long as our mindset
allows for it. Positivity is sorely underrated when it could be all
we need to retain our former glory.
The
strongest among us may not wear a crown. Those best suited to rise to
a challenge may crumple under the pressure, while those you would
never imagine to prove themselves so valiantly may seize the reins
and achieve something absolutely, unimaginably incredible. No
opportunity, nor any single person, should ever be discounted
entirely. The most powerful gains sometimes occur when the stakes are
at their most extreme… because there is always hope, no matter
where you are or where you've been, no matter what you’ve done and
what you intend… unless you yourself
abandon it. So when you find yourself overcome with emotion, standing
on the brink of a revelation powerful enough to shake you to your
core, just let your
knees fall to the Earth. Just
let it happen. You may not
even have the chance to consider this option, consumed
in the moment, yet
you will walk away in the end with a gain as powerful
as you allow it to be.
Even
the most capable among us must realize that we are practically
powerless on a universal scale, unable to simply will
the deepest workings of the universe to our desires. We must adapt
to them. We
cannot just hold out our hands and summon the cleansing rain we
desire… but we can gaze into the horizon as the clouds inexorably
roll in and fall to our knees as the refreshing waters inevitably
wash over us… and in the brightness of the aftermath we can better
ourselves to our wildest imaginations.
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