“If you fall, get up, and chase the player that got around you.” That was father’s advice whenever I played soccer, and a life lesson, which I try to live up to every day, and has served me well in life. Determination and perseverance are critical in establishing and maintaining that inner drive to achieve one’s goals.

I thought about that lesson, in a funny way, when I wiped out when skiing just the other week. When I was in middle school, I broke my leg skiing, and ever since then I have always had a bit of trepidation while skiing – the fear of falling and somehow injuring myself. Due to that, I always held back a bit while skiing, but that fall strangely changed my mind set, in that I now know that I could take a bad fall, and still not suffer any injuries. I just got up, and skied again, but this time without that nagging inner voice telling me to take it easy since I might fall down again, which was a much more pleasurable way to ski. Just wished I had come to that realization sooner. So when you fall down, or have set backs, get up, and  continue chasing your goals.

BTW — The picture is of my high school varsity soccer team, and I am number 6 in the middle. The picture brings back nice memories, as my father taught my how to play soccer, and to love the sport, and I started playing soccer with him in my parent’s bedroom, with their closet as one goal, and under a love seat the other goal.