FALLING ON MY FACE AND GETTING BACK UP

Sometimes you have to take risks. You have to risk falling flat on your face and totally failing. And sometimes you literally fall right on your face.

I can speak from experience. Yesterday, I left yoga with a swollen, bloody lip, because I quite literally fell on my face while extending myself a little too far. The worst part was that it was during a pose that I had done so many times without much trouble. I don't know what happened. Maybe my concentration was off, maybe I was going too fast, and maybe I was just having an off-day.

But regardless, I now know exactly how it feels to fall flat on your face. As I started to taste blood, I immediately pictured the worst. What if I chipped a tooth?! I felt around my mouth with my tongue checking that all my teeth were still in place. I actually got up and left the yoga studio for a minute to make sure that everything was still there.

Here is what I was supposed to be doing:

Here is what happened: 

Here is how I felt: 

Moral of the story? So, I fell. But I picked myself up, recomposed myself and made sure that no one saw what had just happened. Sure, it hurt. I left with a cut up lip and bruised ego. But I will recover and so will my ego.

And next time that I step in that yoga studio, I am going to rock that crow pose.

So, the when you're having a bad day and everything seems to be going wrong, remember that everything is going to be okay. If you fall (literally or figuratively), pick yourself back up. Next time, you are going to be stronger, and you will remember what went wrong, so that you can do it differently the second time around.

You are stronger than you think. We all have off-days where everything seems to be going wrong and just gets a bit overwhelming. But there are better days ahead. Sometimes it takes literally falling on your face to remember that it could be worse. I could have severely chipped my front teeth. I could have left with a bloody or broken nose. I could have given up.

Some of the best advice I have ever gotten is to not take life too seriously. Instead of sulking in my failure, I laughed about it. I cleaned myself up and recognized that I could do better and I will do better.

If anything, imagine me falling on my face in the middle of a crowded yoga studio and maybe you'll get a little chuckle out of it.