Monday Motivation: Keep Moving Forward

I have a well chronicled history of falling while running.  A month ago, I was trying to jump from road to sidewalk to avoid a car, tripped on the curb and did a face plant on the sidewalk.  Fortunately, the car that I was avoiding just kept on driving.

As I was reflecting on the art of the trip and fall, I realized that a trip occurs when I am trying to step forward and my foot catches on something.  Notice that the key to this equation is moving forward.  You cannot trip and fall when you’re standing still, but you may occasionally trip and fall when you are moving forward.

I recently listened to the book Einstein: His Life and Universe, by Walter Isaacson.  While I still barely understand the General Theory of Relativity, I was amazed to see that Einstein completed his work on that theory in 1915 at the age of 36 (my current age).  The book talked about this being perhaps the most important and productive year in his life.

Shortly after completing his work on relativity, Einstein set his sights on a Unified Field Theory which, with the help of Wikipedia, is the attempt to “develop a single theoretical framework that can account for the fundamental forces of nature.”  The book chronicles his work on this theory up until the day of his death in 1955.  There were many instances Einstein thought he had cracked this code but each attempted breakthrough was subsequently disproved.

While this may seem like an exercise in futility, I admire Einstein’s tenacity to continue to get up, dust himself off, and simply move forward.  Whatever your dream or goal may be, you certainly will never accomplish it by standing still.  Don’t let the fear of falling or being disproved stand in your way.  Instead, view these an essential part of a journey forward.

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