Get Up
“Unfortunately, we will not be proceeding with your application.”
Another failed job interview…
“You know, I think I should say no. I don't think us would work out.”
Another failed husband interview…
Sometimes life really likes to kick you when you’re down. For me it seems to always happen when I feel super confident and everything is going exactly the way I want it to. I feel as though I’m on top of the world and I can conquer any challenge that comes my way. Then one thing fails. And another. “Why?” I tell myself. ”I thought I did everything right this time.”
During these moments it almost gets to the point where it seems no matter how hard you try, no matter how good your intentions are, you just can’t succeed. Sometimes you almost wonder why you even bother getting up in the morning if it’s only to hear one more rejection. “Maybe this time I’ll just stay down on the nice safe ground. Yeah, it’s a little dirty. But as long as I’m down here I can’t fall and get hurt anymore.”
The other day I opened up my email first thing in the morning - which is probably not the best idea - and received one of those rejection messages no one likes to get. What made it even worse, it was something I had felt so sure about. It was something I had wanted. It was something I had put real effort into and even sought advice from friends to prepare for. It was something I had spent months pushing for. I had my life all planned out once I got this job and how nice it would be.
But no.
Recently I took a really nice woman out. She was fun, smart, pretty. (To be honest I was almost suspicious as to why she showed any interest in spending time with me…) We had fun together. We had long conversations after the planned activity. We shared so many interests. I felt really good about it. Then after a few dates she decided to let me know the feeling was not exactly mutual.
Ugh.
Last week as I had a steady stream of discouraging thoughts going through my mind about how often I fail and trying to understand what is wrong with me; one thought came loud and clear to my mind. “Get up!” No matter how much I wanted to focus on my flaws and be sad at that moment, the only thing that kept going through my mind was a loud voice telling me: “Get. Up. Don’t lie down even for a minute. Don’t quit. Don’t hesitate. Don’t look back. Get up! Dust yourself off. Take that next step forward.”
So I did. It was a good reminder and exactly what I needed in that instant. As I continued to reflect on the importance of not quitting a couple of other thoughts came to mind:
Learn and do better. Figure out what went wrong. Ask the person involved if the situation allows it. Review your plans and systems. Practice more. Try something a little different next time. Treat the experience as an experiment. Be a better you because of this trial. With that though comes an even more important thought.
Don’t be too hard on yourself. It’s so easy to be judgmental of yourself and have an internal dialogue criticizing every little thing you do wrong. It can almost reach the point where you just constantly belittle yourself. If you have that tendency as I do then stop. You need to believe in yourself. It’s ok to push yourself to be the best you can be. But you also need to love yourself and be patient with your progress.
One of my favorite quotes is from Jeffrey R Holland. It’s one I turn to regularly. “Don’t you quit. You keep walking. You keep trying. Believe in good things to come.” And that’s what I’ll do. And that’s what I hope we all do. We all have something to contribute in this life. We all have so much potential. We all need each other. So don’t quit. Get up. Keep moving forward. Things will work out alright.
Posts like these are why this is one of 2 blogs I follow. Appreciate your congruity.
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