No One Is the Same After a Fall

When talking about the tumbles we experience in our early years, it’s almost impossible not to try to compare the degree of distress that each stumble has provided us.

Even if harmless, the first accident that comes to mind is one that, in some way, left its mark. Whether it’s a scraped knee, a gash on the forehead, or a broken arm: having that first conscious encounter with pain is an unforgettable terror.

For in one moment, we are sheltered in the loving arms of our parents, feeling invulnerable, and moments later there’s a thick mixture of blood and dirt streaming from a cut that doesn’t seem all that exaggerated to someone looking from the outside — but only to those looking from the outside.

However, this is not what makes that first contact with pain so terrifying. It’s the discovery of how lonely we are when facing an individual agony, even under the care of an adult.

Ultimately, what follows the shock can vary from the sting of cleaning the wound to the warning slap. After the understanding is digested, and we learn how wounds are made, we become cautious. A slip is met with laughter, and we grow tougher than the ground.

That is, until we discover the free fall that holds the world’s problems…

“Consciousness, not age, leads to wisdom.” — Publilius Syrus

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