How To Get Back Up When Life Knocks You Down

workmom blogs

Browse the topics @home and @work. Engage with leading bloggers who offer advice on family and career as well as share stories about our rich workmom experience. Share your comments.

engage!

Not a mom blogger?

blog directory

MVP Mom

By Cheryl Benson

Twitter: http://twitter.com/calcables

Cheryl Benson is a 47-year-old, wife and mother of four children, Alex, Zach, Sara and Elizabeth (ages 18, 16, 12 and 7 respectively). Cheryl currently holds the position of Vice President at Cal Manufacturing, Inc., which is a company that manufactures resistance welding cables. Cheryl is also the sole proprietor of her own business, Medical Transcription Services, which allowed her to work at home and raise her small children during their formative years and which she still maintains. Managing four children, one of whom just graduated high school and will be entering college this fall and the youngest who is just finishing her year of first grade ensures that life is never devoid of drama, that schedules are still full of first grade programs and piano lessons as well as the joys that accompany raising children. As life often does on a dime, it changed due to the fact that the company is family-owned and succession was inevitable, Cheryl is now balancing two businesses and the challenges of being a working mother. While not new to the resistance welding cable industry (the company has been in her family for over a decade and the business itself has been running for over half a century), the challenges that present themselves in running a primarily male-dominated industry are inherent. Her professional, yet fun-loving approach to the business world is key to success in driving sales, attending expos and conventions, managing daily operations and exploring new markets for the resistance welding cable industry as well as being a "CEO Mom".

How To Get Back Up When Life Knocks You Down

Posted on July 31, 2011

related tags: Balance Family, Entertainment, Health, Social Media, Laughs

If you're like me, you've been programmed to put on that "happy face", and sock every ounce of energy into keeping it all running smoothly. What's the option? Falling apart? I have always thought that if I fall apart, the world will somehow stop spinning on it's axis. Sometimes, life knocks you down. The trick is in learning how to get back up. Accepting that this is okay is like using a muscle in my body that hasn't been used in years.

Learning how to get back up when life knocks you down starts with this very profound statement: It is okay to fall apart because I will get back up. Giving yourself permission to do this allows you to regain your energy and perspective on why you fell down in the first place. The tendency in women, I believe, is to just "keep going" and ignore the pain. Unfortunately, by doing this, we neglect to deal with the painful issues facing us and they start to accumulate like debt on a credit card with an exorbitant rate of interest!

Wherever you are emotionally right now, start thinking about what you are thankful for, what is stable and constant in your life, which is different for each and every one of us. Find that stable ground, stop and think for a moment about what helps us to get back up again. Is this being around certain people? Is it exercise? Talking a walk? Meditation? Remember these things that help you and keep them a part of your life while you are "up" because they will become strong tools when life knocks you down. Trust me, it will happen...sometimes when you least expect it.

Women are remarkable creatures. We can experience enormous pain and still rise back up again. Learning the necessary tools to rise back up after a devastating time in your life will make you stronger. Remember, we cannot control the outcomes or fate in our lives but we can certainly control our emotions or reaction to it. Give yourself permission to take the time you need to come to a place of acceptance as a part of your journey. There may even be moments of great happiness while we come back from a "fall". Take comfort in knowing that sometimes, the only thing we can do is mark some time until we have the strength to get up and keep on moving forward.