There’s a great video going around right now of seven-year-old Talaya Crawford, who lost her shoe at the beginning of a race. Talaya had to go back to get her shoe and put it on, but she didn’t let that slow her down, and she ended up winning the race. 

Hearing her parents encouraging her from the stands and hearing the crowd’s enthusiasm is contagious. You can’t help but get captured by this little girl’s spirit and inspired by her ability not to let something going wrong keep her from giving it everything she has. 

Watching her be unphased by losing her shoe reminded me that all of us have an ability to “get over,” “bounce back,” and keep moving forward. *Link to the video is below

We often see this with athletes. They “get over” a previous move, a fall, or a missed shot, and as a result, they stay open, agile, and focused. They shake it off, and you can almost see their minds get present and start fresh.

When things don’t go well, or they don’t go our way, we can get disappointed, discouraged, and even angry. It happens to all of us. It’s human.

Disappointment, getting reactive, or making a mistake, is not the problem; it’s our ability to get over it that matters.

Getting over things and bouncing back is often underappreciated for its benefit.

Getting beyond a missed opportunity, a conversation that went badly, a misunderstanding with someone, or a disappointing result, is critical in our work and lives. Our ability to start fresh, see with a new perspective, or stay hopeful is the source of new ideas and resourcefulness.

When we can let go of things not going as planned, the missteps, or the misunderstandings, we find our center and recalibrate. We get our bearings and try again or move on and find a new way forward.

There are lots of examples where people lose their bearings, get over it, and are able to keep moving forward.

• A salesperson doesn’t get the sale, but they go on the next call.
• A date doesn’t go well, yet we try again with someone new.
• Two people in a relationship disagree but get over their reactions and get back to a good feeling for each other.
• We make a mistake but keep a clear head and make it right.
• A project at work doesn’t go as planned, but the team resets and is able to bring new ideas to the situation.

We are human, and getting reactive, upset, and disappointed are common experiences. When we allow the energy to move through us and don’t attach extra significance to it, we discover our natural ability to bounce back. 

You can see it in children; their ability to go from upset to playful in a matter of moments points to the fluid nature of emotions. As we get older, we often add extra meaning and thought to a situation and don’t realize it’s not the situation that is causing us to suffer; it is the meaning we give it.

It is often the meaning we give things that paralyze us from moving forward. The meaning keeps our minds ruminating, affects our moods, and causes us to overthink rather than engage, keep moving or try again. 

When we allow our thoughts to pass, our reactions and emotions naturally move on, and we tap into the natural flow. We find new energy, and we bounce back more gracefully. We often surprise ourselves with the amount of resourcefulness we have to meet the moment.

Getting over things, including our reactions, gives us a huge advantage. 

It allows us to keep our heads on straight, discover new insights, and helps us tap into creative solutions for whatever is on our path.

Let’s all learn from Talaya. You can watch the video here.