Thursday, May 15, 2008

I Promise, I'll Catch You

When i was in school, we had countless trust exercises; where someone stands behind you and you have to trust them to catch you. Whenever we played those games, i always caught my partner without a second thought. However, when it came to my turn, i never let anyone catch me. Not since i was a primary student have i stood infront of someone, closed my eyes and let myself fall.


Nowadays, in the big, bad world, there isn't a teacher carefully watching each pair, to make sure that somebody is ready to catch each and every student. We're on our own. If we fall and there's nobody behind us then we're going to hit the ground hard.


Knowing that there's nobody behind you, to catch you when you fall, is a horrible feeling. But there's another one that's just as bad. Knowing that there's somebody standing behind you, professing that they'll catch you, should instill a sense of trust. But what happens when, as you start to fall, that person steps out from behind you and watches you fall? And then steps over your broken body and walks away? Not only have they thrown away your trust, but they've left you crippled.


Everyone needs someone to catch them. It's human nature to fall, to desparately wish for someone to be standing behind us to soften the blow...


There's nobody standing behind me today. I've got people infront of me, looking back at me over their shoulders, people assuming that there's someone else who's got my back. There are people standing next to me, who occasionally put out a hand to steady me when i stumble. But when i am freefalling, arms pinwheeling to try and save myself, there's nobody who's behind me, who has me trust, who will catch me.

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