On tripping up....but not staying down

I was trail running this morning, cruising along at a pretty good clip with a steady drizzle making things just uncomfortable enough. The trail was getting increasingly more treacherous, and just after the half-way point on my 19 mile out and back I mis-navigated a turn and bit it hard. I first looked around to see if anyone had seen me go down, then I did the cursory injury check (negative, save for my ego), then I pulled myself up off the muddy Mountains to Sea trail and carried on to finish out my run. Staying down wasn't a consideration. First of all, it was nasty on the ground, but more importantly, I knew I had to complete what I set out to do. It wasn't the first time I went down on a run or ride, and I know it won't be the last. I've come to expect a good fall now and then, if for nothing else, it keeps me humble, aware, and focused on what I am out there doing. It's generally those times when I'm getting comfortable or complacent (lulled into a false sense of security) that I tend to go down. I've let my guard up and often thrown caution to the wind. Next thing I know I've face-planted.

Life is full of hazards, falls, and face plants. I've noticed that just as with my runs, it's during those times when I seem to be cruising along thinking how good life is and I'm getting oh so comfortable and complacent....that I trip up. And more often than than not, I go down, sometimes hard. There's always a price to be paid for that loss of focus, that lack of awareness, or that egocentric attitude. Life's falls tend to be far more painful and less forgiving than a trail tumble. But we learn from each of them, we rise a bit wiser than before and we move onward. Staying down and beating ourselves up for being so stupid or careless serves no purpose. Yes, we are called to learn from our mistakes - but we're not called to wallow in them. God's greater purpose for our lives requires that we when we lose our way and fall, we get back up and carry on, knowing that while it won't be the last time we go down, He will always be there for us. And that His grace is sufficient for the journey forward. BELIEVE.