My sister took me on a mystery trip a few months before I got married. She told me to pack a bag, bring my passport and meet her at the airport. I didn’t know until minutes before we were boarding the plane where we were going -and it tuned out to be Philly!
My sis and I have been huge Sly and Rocky fans since I can remember. We’ve watched his movies over and over and headed to the theatre to see the last few Rocky releases. We can never get enough of our favourite boxer. As such, Philly was a great choice. We were going to climb the rocky steps AND get a pic with the statue. Heaven!
Now we get to the good stuff…you’ll want to stick around for this one – get cozy and let’s begin.
We arrived in Philly at our lovely hotel. We unpacked and headed out on the town. Not far from where we were staying we stumbled upon an Italian restaurant that was simply divine. As my impending wedding was approaching, I had been on a diet for months so I let myself have anything I wanted. This scenario quit likens to the budget of a business owner. You are so tight 99% of the time and there is that one time you throw caution to the wind and dive in with your imagined millionaire status spending until your heart’s content. After a full plate of lasagna, salad, a bottle of wine, bread and olive oil and possibly dessert (I can’t even remember anymore as all the food was so delicious!) you are yanked back to reality and the budget (or diet) goes back into place. These moments of reckless abandon are pretty fantastic and a necessary distraction from time to time.
The following day we decided it was time to visit the rocky steps and statue. It was a crisp spring day, perfect for touring the city. We got off the double-decker hop on/off bus and made our way to the bottom of the steps. As I had imagined this moment so many times in my head, I decided to climbed the stairs slow and steady to be able to take in the moment. My sister stayed down at the bottom to take some pictures of me making my journey to the top. The first few steps went like magic. These were the mystical steps that had meant determination and triumph to me all my life and here I was – taking part in the scene. I got more confident as I ascended. Quickly, I felt brave enough to pick up the pace. I took two stairs at a time and before I knew it the top of that symbolic staircase was within a few short feet. Suddenly, 5 steps from the top and my impending victory dance, I caught my shoe on any uneven tile. In a split second, I had to decide if I was going to try to stumble and catch my balance, or give in and fall flat on my face on the busy Philly steps. I decided, at that moment, to give into the fall. The risk of trying to catch my balance was too great as the next set of steps was so close if I didn’t immediately catch my balance I would have fallen into those hard stairs. So, I went down – first my right knee, then my left knee then my hands and then my body slammed on the cold concrete. As quickly as I went down I jumped up and made my way up that last set of stairs to take the victory pose. There I stood, scraped, bloody and scared….but victorious none-the-less.
This is what it is to be an entrepreneur. You gain momentum and then you gracefully (sorta) fall on your face. I’m learning to spend only enough time on the ground to be able to pick myself up and keep on marching – scars, blood, scrapes and all.
When I met up with my sister again, as she climbed to meet me, she asked what had happened. She said, “I was filming you and I lost you and then you jumped back into the frame.” Ya, well, as an entrepreneur this is definitely going to happen. Don’t be afraid to “fall out of frame” and come back to the people who love and support you. Keep moving forward. The key is to find those that will help you get back up, clean you up and get you a martini for your efforts!
Until next time – dream, experience and love your life.
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