Fall Down Seven Times, Stand Up Eight...

There’s a quiet kind of strength in the words “fall seven times, stand up eight.”  It resonates deeply for me. Not loud. Just steady human resilience. The truth is, falling is part of being alive.  We fall in obvious ways: when plans unravel, when relationships shift, when life delivers something we didn’t choose but we also fall in quieter, more private ways.  We fall into self-doubt. Into old patterns. Into moments where we forget who we are and what we’re capable of and in those moments, it can feel like we’ve gone backwards.  But falling isn’t failure, it’s part of the rhythm. It's something I have had to remind myself of many times.

The Myth of “Getting It Right”: So many people carry the belief that healing, growth or change should be linear but I see it as a spiral. We often believe that once we’ve learned something, we should never struggle with it again but that’s not how we’re wired. Our nervous system, our memories, our lived experiences, they all shape how we respond in the moment and sometimes, despite all the awareness in the world, we still react in ways that surprise us.  That’s a fall. Not because you’ve failed but because you’re human. 

The Courage to Stand Again: Standing up again doesn’t always look dramatic or brave.  Sometimes it’s incredibly small.  It’s taking a breath instead of spiralling.  It’s noticing what’s happening instead of judging it.  It’s choosing to begin again, even when part of you feels tired of beginning and it can take everything you've got to stand up again.

Standing up might look like:

• Pausing and placing a hand on your heart
• Coming back to your breath
• Speaking to yourself with kindness instead of criticism
• Reaching out instead of withdrawing

These moments matter more than we realise. They are the “eighth time" (or eighteenth or eightyth time!!).

The Space Between the Fall and the Rise: With mindfulness, we know this space well.  That moment after something has happened but before we react to it.  That space is powerful.  It’s where awareness lives.  It’s where choice becomes possible and sometimes, standing up doesn’t mean fixing anything at all.  It just means being with what is, without turning away.  Taking time to really feel whatever is there.

A Different Way of Measuring Strength:  What if strength isn’t about never falling?  What if it’s about how gently you meet yourself when you do?  Resilience doesn’t have to be hard-edged.  It can be soft, compassionate and deeply present.  Each time you return to yourself, to your breath, your body, your awareness, you are standing again.  Not perfectly. Not permanently. But enough.

A Gentle Reflection:  If you’re noticing a place in your life where you feel like you’ve “fallen,” pause for a moment, take a breath, then ask yourself: What would standing up look like right now, in the smallest, kindest way?

Let it be simple. Let it be human. Because you don’t need to get it right. ​You just need to begin again. And again.