HELP.. I’ve Fallen..

I guess I should begin this story by letting you know that I like to be comfortable. So, quite often I wear jeans, cowboy (or cowgirl) boots, and depending on the occasion t-shirt, dress shirt, sweater, etc.. I also should let you know that country life usually relates to having a pick up truck. With that said, the other day I headed out to run a few errands. At one of my stops, I turn to get out of the truck, and before I knew it, I am on the ground on hands and knees trying to keep my head from hitting the concrete. You can laugh, I give you full permission, I did. I do know in the split second before I fell, the heel of my boot got stuck on what I think was my pant leg, and BAM down I went.

I find it funny that the first thing we do, in this day and age, is hop up no matter how hurt we are, to see if anyone saw us, and to be sure we are not going to be on someone’s you tube video. Then we try to assess the damage. Not bad this time, a little concrete rash and bruised knee cap on one leg, some scrapes and scratches on both arms, and a little bit of the jitters from the fall. But, all in all, not anything that I will not get over fairly quickly.

The second thing I noticed is that someone was climbing into their car and never did ask if I was okay. For years, anytime I have fallen or done something rather stupid, my first reaction is always embarrassment. If I am not hurt that badly, my next is laughter at how much of a dork or klutz I am. Matter-of-fact I made up this little game I play with my sister, unintentionally mind you, to see who has the worst horror story. I call the game “Mommy didn’t name us grace”. Back to my point though, in years past, even though I had those reactions myself, if anyone was in the vicinity, laughing or not, they always did manage to ask was I okay. What in the world happened to us? And can we manage to find our way back?

I guess life experiences, fear of lawsuits, fear of abduction, fear of some other harm being done to us, or fear in general have made it so we do not involve ourselves anymore. I find it hard to believe that the mass of people will do any of these to me. Somehow, however, the minority always seem to create the reaction. I am here to let you know that I am trying to find my way back, and hopefully will bring some of you with me, to a time when I cared if someone was hurt when they fell, a time when I saw someone stranded on the side of the road and stopped to see if they needed help, a time when I felt a huge connection to all others around me. I truly am trying to kick fear to the side of the road in order to live a much fuller enjoyable life.

I have found that I am a much happier person when I take moments to let others know that I truly do see them. Whether it is with a smile, a simple hello, a thank you, or a comment or compliment on something about them, usually the reaction from them shows me that it made them a little happier also. Now it will not always, and that is okay, because it is not about them, as much as it is about us, about us being better people. So today’s project for all of us, notice one person and do something like smile at them or say hello. It is in these moments that lives get changed forever. Maybe tomorrow it will be two. I still have hope, no matter how many tell me otherwise, that we someone can find our way back to each other. So let all of us start with just one.