Still Standing

One of my favorite movies is The Electric Horseman. The stars are Robert Redford and Jane Fonda. Redford plays a retired rodeo cowboy who finds himself facing trouble. Fonda tells him she doesn’t want to see him get hurt. He responds, “I’ve been hurt. I still get up.”

This statement sums up my twelfth and final  entry into rebounding, or being resilient. As I said in my first post on rebounding, life knocks everyone around, some more than others. Being able to recover from setbacks is essential. I have presented eleven other strategies on the subject. The discussion is only complete by adding one more. Sometimes I just have to be mentally and physically tough. There is no substitute. 

I told that to my players. There are games when your shots just don’t go in very much. That’s when you win ugly, relying on defense and rebounding, which come from tenacity. You have to out tough your opponent. Sometimes life stinks and the only path forward is through the trouble. I may not see an end to the current situation, but that just reinforces the value of being able to endure it. It doesn’t feel great coming out the other side, but it’s better than giving up.

After my dad’s graveside service a friend, old Pete, came up to me. Looked me in the eye and said, “You got good blood in you boy.” That was as important a statement as I could have heard that day. I often look back on it. I know it is true. I had terrific parents. But something else is also true. Everybody on this planet comes from a heritage of survivors. It’s in our DNA, literally. Everyone in my lineage survived long enough to have at least one child. If they didn’t I wouldn’t be here.

For 300,000 years people lived a survival existence on earth. They faced unimaginable challenges every day, just to be able to see the next one. It was their very existence. They endured, and I can too, with more strength than I will ever realize I have. It’s hard wired into me.

I’ve been hurt. I still get up, and I’m still standing. Here is a link to one of my favorite songs that reminds me of that fact.https://www.google.com/search?q=i%27m+still+standing+by+elton+john&rlz=1CALAYK_enUS986US986&oq=i%27m+still+standing+by+e&aqs=chrome.0.0i355i512j46i512j0i512j69i57j0i512l2j0i22i30l4.10827j1j15&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:6e320887,vid:xiZW1VoytEg

May you have enough today, one moment at a time.