It Never Stays Down!

Life has a way of knocking us down. It happens to everyone. Failure is when we don’t get back up. ~Michael Luckman

Do you remember the Bop bags we had as kids. They were this inflatable toy that stood about 4 ft. tall and had a weighted bottom of sand to prevent it from moving across the floor when hit. It either had a clown face screened onto the front or some other cartoon character. The purpose of this toy was as a punching bag. Whenever you hit the Bop bag it would lean back and then immediately bounce back up.

If you read my book, Overpowering Fear – Defeating the #1 Challenge in Sales and Life, then you would know that the Bop bag could be a metaphor for my life. Get knocked down, get back up. Get knocked down again, get back up. But then this toy could probably be a metaphor for many of your lives, too. I guess the lyrics of the song, “I never promised you a rose garden” are probably true.

No matter who you are; young or old, rich or poor, black, white or brown, you are going to get knocked down eventually. It could be the loss of a job, a divorce, an illness, the loss of a parent or as in my case, a sick child, with some of the others thrown in for good measure. Sooner or later you’ll hit a rough patch. The first thing to understand is that you have not been singled out. God, the Universe or even your Great Aunt Mildred, did not put a curse on you. Bad things do happen to good people.

When you do get knocked down know this; bad times are never permanent. The sun will shine again. Just get back up. I know your legs will probably be wobbly but you have been created for Greatness. Stand tall, dust yourself off and get back in the saddle. You have just learned a valuable lesson. You are stronger and more resilient than you think. You are a winner, not a loser. And winners know that they can’t be beat.

With Love,

Michael