“If you were born with the weakness to fall, you were born with the strength to rise.’- Rupi Kaur

               It seems pretty obvious that we are all born with the ability to fall – as humans we know that we can easily fall, get hurt, lose and fail… But we are taught to fear the fall. We are taught to do everything within our power to fly.  And while we should strive to fly, because the high feels good, we should take the time to acknowledge the fall. There is actually no weakness in the fall, only humanness and vulnerability. Without the fall we would never have true growth and we would never feel the highs of the rise.

              What we should really be learning and teaching our children, is to embrace the fall.  It is ok to be vulnerable, to fail, to make mistakes, to screw up, to wish you could take it back, to lose, to feel the loss and the darkness that comes with the fall. We do not learn if we do not fall, and falling is O.K. It really is. It is part of life and part of us. In life, a fall is inevitable at some point or another, know that it is coming and you will be ok. You know why??? Because, like the sun, we have the ability to rise up on a new day and shine our light no matter how dark the night before was. Trust me, I am still climbing my way out of my fall and everyday I am learning my own strengths and discovering an inner light I never knew I had – even on the days when the pain is too much.

  When I took this photograph I saw the light from the sun giving life to all it touched as it rose on a new day. The sun does not fear the fall because it knows that it is inevitable and it knows that it has the power to rise again, and it will.  Not only does it rise but it makes its presence known and it beautifully illuminates everything it touches.

    The sun, and it’s light, are like you and I…. And when we can really see the light that we hold inside of us, like really see it and acknowledge our own power, strength and ability to shine; that is when we take steps in shining it brighter. When we let that light shine out of us like the rays from the sun we can’t help but light up those around us… and the world. That feeling right there, to be on the edge of that knowledge or to fully feel your light and power  – it’s an incredible, indescribable, empowering feeling. But it only comes after a fall, on your rise back up. It comes when you face the darkness and do not run from it. It comes when we learn from the hardness and grow through it. It comes when we feel the pain and see that we don’t actually break from it. And we would not know this amazing feeling of our own power and light without having experienced the darkness as we fell and lay on the ground.

   So when you fall feel all the uncomfortable and painful feels, learn from them and do not run. Face them head on.  Once you have seen your fall as a challenge and you have stood there and faced it you will grow. Only then can you rise up much stronger and empowered. Do all the good you can with your light.  No one else in this world can be you and that is your magic alone to spread. Watch how it illuminates your surroundings. No matter what you are going through believe in the power of your inner light, it’s going to take you places. You can change the world if only you believe in your ability to shine and the power that you carry within that.

So embrace that fall and the decent down… even the hard rocks when you lie on the bottom.  There will be many of them throughout life. Because you were born to fall but you were also born to rise up and shine… and rise you will!

To follow a photography project that I helped to create that is all about embracing the fall and finding empowerment in your journey and shining your inner light : https://www.facebook.com/YOU.Captured/

https://www.instagram.com/you.captured/