I love hill running. But I’m pretty clumsy. This captures one of the many times I’ve fallen over 😂. I remember at the moment I slipped, I was away from my running buddy. I fell into the bracken (so luckily one of the softer landings I’ve had!).
I remember thinking, “I should probably just get back up, but I’m going to wait until my running buddy comes and pulls me out”.
I embraced being down. I embraced the time to just process what had happened. Rather than rushing to recover and keep running on, I gave myself permission to just be in that messy place. I let my buddy pull me up.
Just like when we fall physically, falling within our careers, or within our personal lives, can stop us in our step. It can be inconvenient. Painful.
This post is a reminder that we don’t always have to get straight back up and back into full swing. We can ask for the help of others. We can stay for a moment in that state of feeling a bit rubbish. We can take time to process what’s gone on.
This has felt very topical for me this week – after being struck by one of those dreaded nursery sickness bugs, I felt pretty rotten this week. Instead of forcing myself to bounce back from it, I let myself dwell for a bit, I let myself be helped by others. Now I’m back in action, feeling that I can move forwards with energy, having embraced the slower pace.
Sometimes, it can feel good to take a moment and accept help from others, in order to to be able to move forwards, better.