Sometimes in life, we find ourselves falling down, both literally and figuratively.

Life can be hard, work, kids, family pressures, holidays, projects, home repairs, and the list just keeps on going. But it isn’t so much how these events happen or even when they happen, but is how we deal with these things as we are falling down. And it is my hope that as I go through life, as I go through the challenges of being a parent, of being a husband and most importantly a father, that my boys will see how I deal with life as I am falling down, but also how I get up.

My wife and I have both really crazy work lives and schedules, as we are both in the medical industry. I work on the Marketing/IT side and my wife works directly with families regarding end of life care. So there is a lot of stress and pressures from both sides.  Sure, it is hard at times, not seeing each other, adding additional work load for the other at home, etc. But, it is how we respond and deal with it, that is so important.  How we interact with each other, listen to each other help the other when they are falling down.

Last night, I was walking down the steps and was holding Baby B & while we were walking and he was making animal sounds, I slipped. I slipped and fell halfway down the steps with him. I was lucky, he didn’t get hurt. I was holding him in a way that was able to protect him from the fall and shield him from getting hurt. Myself on the other hand, I more than likely broke a thumb, my forearm took a beating and my back is hurting. But even though falling down the stairs is hard, physically and ego wise, I wanted to make sure that my son was ok, which he was. But I wanted him to see how I got up.  I didn’t get upset, I didn’t get mad. After checking him out good, I was able to realize that I was going to be in more pain than he was.

Falling down is part of life, literally.  But we have options. We can choose to sit and be upset about falling down or we can get up, wipe our pants off and do something to prevent that happening again.