Tripping and Not Falling

Tripping is an inevitable part of life. We all do it no matter how careful we're watching our step. A few months ago, I was chasing after a grandiose dream. The dream was ahead of me on a path that was long and full of obstacles, but I was focused, watching each step carefully, and I was able to hurdle over each obstacle that crossed my path. I was slowly but surely getting closer to the dream, but out of no where an obstacle came that was too big for me to hurdle over. I tripped over it and fell hard face first. I layed on the ground in shock for a while and when I finally shook off the fall, the dream was so far ahead of me I couldn't see it anymore. I tried get up and keep running after it, but I was like a deer in the headlights just standing there with no idea which direction to go and no idea where I was. It was devistating, because all I thought I had was catching this dream. Finally after a couple of weeks of feeling blind and panicked, I recovered, regained composure and got back on track. It wasn't the path I was originally on, but it was a temporary path that would keep me occupied until I found the dream again or another one came in sight. What I learned from the experience was that we have to train our reflexes to act quickly so that when we trip, we just stumble and catch ourselves before we fall, that way we can keep going, even if it's in a different direction than where we were going before. Quickening our reflexes will save us from a full on fall, which will limit the time spent in the panicked state. There will always be unexpected challenges and obstacles in life that we will have to face, but it is our reaction to the situation that will change the outcome. We can trip, fall on our face, and spend time motionless in the panicked state or we can train our reflexes to react quickly. This will transform a full on fall into a stumble that we can recover from quickly and keep going. Just because we trip doesn't mean that we have to fall.