Running on scraped knees

Running is one of the simplest things humans can do—almost as natural as breathing! It’s like the human body was designed with built-in wheels. As soon as children learn to walk, they magically transform into mini Olympic athletes, darting away from their parents like they just found the last cookie. It’s a universal skill; everyone runs at some point, especially when they see a snake in the grass or a new check-out aisle open at Target on Black Friday.

Although running is a natural part of the human experience… so is stumbling. Everyone who has learned to stand knows what it feels like to fall. All of us have stumbled when taking our first steps. And every child has scraped their knees while running in the yard. Take it from a guy who has been running daily my entire life. I have logged tens of thousands of miles and still stumble occasionally- No one has a perfect running record.

It's not a matter of how far or how fast you run. All humans will fall from time to time. So, the real challenge becomes what to do AFTER scraping your knees. This is one of those valuable lessons you learn as a child that sticks with you until your dying days. Here’s why running on scaped knees might be one of the most important lessons you’ll ever learn.

I'm deliberately using the language of falling down here to create an analogy about the mistakes that we make in life. No one is human! We all mess up. I wish that most adults reacted to their mistakes like they did when they were children and scraped their knees. Like a child throwing a tantrum because they tripped over the carpet, many adults attempt to feel better about themselves by making the failure someone else's fault.

Unfortunately, many people lie to themselves to make the mistake more bearable. It's easy to make your failure someone else’s fault by examining the circumstances that caused it. Most people are exceptionally good at ignoring 99% of failures and blaming the 1% of mistakes that were out of their control.

Unfortunately, children can sometimes be more mature in handling their failures than the average adult. For example, children typically don't compare themselves to others when they fall down. Rather than trying to make themselves feel better by comparing their mistakes to someone else, they run to their mother or father for comfort.

God built it into human nature to naturally run to your parents when you scrape your knees. We all want someone stronger and more stable to lean on when we stumble. This healthy reaction makes it possible for children to find the courage to get back up after they've scraped their knees. Running to our Father should be just as natural for God's children when we fall flat on our faces. Don’t compare how well you run to someone else. When you fall, take it to the arms of your Heavenly Father.

Let's face it: some people are just masters of deception. They will go to extraordinary lengths to cover up that they just fell. Rather than allowing people to see their mistakes, they will do everything possible to hide the fact that they scrape their knees.

I'm a guy who hates failure as much as anyone. However, failure can sometimes become a powerful tool that motivates you to make changes and have a better future. Going to extraordinary lengths to hide your failure hinders your ability to grow stronger after scraping your knees.

The opposite side of the coin is the person who gives up because of failure. They look at their mistakes and can't see anything good from them, so they live in their failure.

Just because you fall doesn't make you a failure. The only person who can truly be considered a failure is someone who refuses to get up after falling. Falling 50 times in a row doesn't make you a failure. What matters is the decision to get up on the 51st try.

The challenge for imperfect people still trying to run their best race is to refuse to give up when you scrape your knees. Instead of focusing solely on your mistakes, look for valuable lessons from their experiences. By embracing our failures, you can transform them into stepping stones for physical or spiritual growth. It takes internal strength to start running after you stumble or keep running on scraped knees.

Some lessons can only be learned from scraped knees. There are valuable life lessons that come from failure. Don’t look for somewhere to point the finger when you fall. Don’t compare your mistakes to someone else’s. Don’t try to hide the fact that you are an imperfect human. And certainly, don’t let your setbacks define you! Instead, embrace your mistakes as an opportunity to learn. Never forget the powerful lesson you learned in childhood: it hurts temporarily to fall, but the hurt lasts much longer for those who refuse to learn from the experience.