Optimism Thought of the Week 

For Sunday, February 12, 2017

Scarred Knees

By Glennel Hardy

 When I was 7 years old my mom purchased a brand new bike for me. I remember being so excited to hop on and take it for a spin.  Having the confidence that I was a skilled rider, I took my first voyage, and fell off within a few feet from the house.  I cried and my leg was well scarred, and blood everywhere. The pain of falling down and then realizing that everyone was watching was embarrassing enough.  My next door neighbor at that time told me to pick myself back up and continue riding.  At that point I didn’t really want to ride, but I feared my neighbor more than I feared falling down again.

 It took a few more falls, but each time I fell my reflexes were stronger than before, and I would fall on the grass, instead of on the sidewalk.  The only way I became successful in riding the bike, was by learning how to master the falls, which would eventually come my way.  I was not foolish to believe that I would never fall again, but I knew ways of softening the impact.

 Over the course of my lifetime I have fell multiple times, but each time I consider of what I learned from the previous fall.  Our “scarred knees” is not to remind us how many times we fell, but it is to remind us how many times we stood back up, after each fall.