I know, I know, as the saying goes, “keep your head up!” I get it. I get the intent behind that loaded statement of encouragement and promise: keep your head up. Your mood up. Your hopes up. And all will be ok. I’m a believer in keeping your head up and facing in the direction of positivity and, well, onward-and-upward-ness. I am an undying optimist and live wholeheartedly with this phrase and for this phrase. “Keep your head up!”
But we’d all be lying if we said we don’t get knocked down from time to time. Because sometimes, life happens. Sometimes, the upward direction of our heads are forced downward. Sometimes, by the weight of our Mondays, our heartbreaks, our past-due assignments that we forget to submit, the “no’s” we encounter when we want to hear “yes,” and the gravity of reality, we inevitably look down because our necks can’t seem to hold themselves up any longer. And I know, trust me, I know. We’re told to get up off the floor when we’re knocked down: “Get back on the horse when you fall off,” as the saying goes. I’ve heard it countless times. But in this sea of clichés and inspiring bumper stickers that we’re surrounded by on a daily basis, that we sometimes drown in, we find ourselves restricted and limited – or at least I do, to the possibility of an alternate point of view. Whether it’s a grey day in the city or a walk to a class that I’m not looking forward to, sometimes I can be put down by the smallest, most insignificant things that, unfortunately, impact me kind of significantly. I guess that’s just the reality of things.
But maybe there is a beauty within this reality, a potential and promise for optimism and change at the core of our daily moments of adversity…? Perhaps the important act isn’t tilting our heads back up, but keeping our eyes and our hearts open when our heads are down. Sometimes, we stumble upon and (quite literally) walk right on by a subtle sign or sight that has the potential and the power to change our outlooks on our days and our experiences. And from what I’ve noticed when my head has been down, these catalysts of change aren’t always the most obvious or explicit. Sometimes, the little things that shock our hearts and our minds for the better are scribbled in chalk or hastily spray-painted on the ground right below the soles of our feet.
Sometimes, having our heads down for a moment at times when we can’t keep them up is an opportunity in disguise for spiritual refuel, if you will – as long as we stay present and aware, and keep our eyes open in the meantime for the hints of color that lie between the cracks of the grey.
