I get an email with an “inspirational” quote each day. Today’s quote, by H.G. Wells, is “If you fell down yesterday, stand up today”. I rated that 5 stars. You can rate the quote each day as well. I usually give 3 or 4’s, rarely 5’s, but definitely have given 1’s and 2’s.
I know he wasn’t speaking literally about falling. However, this quote made me think of a college philosophy professor I had. He spoke about a Laurie Anderson song’s lyrics,
“And you don’t always realize it, but you’re always falling.
With each step you fall forward slightly.
And then catch yourself from falling.
Over and over, you’re falling.
And then catching yourself from falling.
And this is how you can be walking and falling at the same time.”
I think back to this quite often. He probably does not realize how that one itty bitty thought affected me all these years. I cannot recall his name or I’d let him know!
Today, I also saw a FB post by a yoga teacher by whom I have taken a few classes. It seems to tie in so well. I’m going to have liberty with the it and not cut and paste verbatim:
There was a conversation about how, as we age, time seems to fly by. We can all relate to this I am sure. One moment it’s summer and the next you are hanging up Christmas stockings. One said ‘you know why that is right?’ He explained that when we are children we notice everything and as we age we just stop noticing. Everything flashes by because we miss the details. A child is completely enthralled by how a stapler works and the beauty of a color of a flower. Babies are enamored by the way their hand looks in front of their face or by someone’s smile. Toddlers genuinely became excited by how a ball bounces and are in awe of how blades of grass feel beneath their feet (except for sensory kiddos like my son). As we age these things lose their shine. We aren’t enamored any longer by the small things. We become occupied with our to do lists, the busyness of the day, and our phones . We forget to notice.
Just like, as a child learning to walk, they are aware that they are falling over and having to catch themselves with each step! (There’s my tie-in.)
You sentence, we fail to notice”, saddens me. It’s so very true, and in the blink of an eye it will be Christmas again. I’m still not over last Christmas. I understand the falling and the catching of ourselves, but what I didn’t hear in your blog was “the always and ever moving forward.” Even if we think we are going backwards, its still forward. Whether the direction is where we want to go, or where we should go is debatable, but Leah, we are all moving towards something whether we realize it or not. Love you, Aunt Nancy. PS. Yesterday I was reading something on FB that said if you agree, and forward this message you will receive 5 miracles today (yesterday) Shortly after reading that I got a call from Dianne, that they were being evacuated. While her situation is dire, I was thrilled to be seeing them, no matter what the circumstances. The five miracles: Dianne, Colleen, Codey, Yvonne, and the cat! LOL (Yvonne is Codey’s friend) It’s all a matter of perspective!
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