Sometimes you just have to run

This Sunday, we went walking at a local park. It was one of those glorious February days that make you think that maybe spring has decided to visit early, mid 60's with bright blue skies, but with just enough chill to the breeze to remind you that it was still winter. The path we were following meanders through the park, curving this way and that. The recent rains have taken their toll on the path and has created gullies and bumps. Periodically, the children would burst in to a run, the thrill of freedom was just too great to be contained in a mild walk, they had to express that energy by pumping their legs. My oldest daughter was running and tripped over nothing, we were on a straight part of the path that hadn't been affected by the rains. Of course she started to cry and I said "You gotta get up, you gotta run some more." But she didn't want to run, she said she was afraid if she did she'd just trip again. I had to remind her that it didn't matter if she tripped again, the important part was that she ran. Bam! Life lesson. Right there in a nut shell. So often we are running through our daily life and for no foreseeable reason we fall flat on our face. At first there is the shock of "What the hell just happened?!" but then we have to make the decision to get up. We can't just wallow in the mud, no matter how hurt or embarrassed we are, get up, accept that, even when life is going smoothly, there is always the possibility that we may end up on the ground. Don't just get up and limp slowly through life, scared that if you actually throw yourself fully into it, you'll get hurt. You'll hurt yourself more by missing out on the joys in life simply because of a few bumps in your path.