Falling down and getting back up—it’s a part of life. It begins when we first start to walk. We have to keep falling down to get it right. Innocent and fearless, a baby learning to walk gets right back up, time after time. There’s no notion of failure or embarrassment.

As we grow into adulthood, though, it’s not so easy to fall and get back up. To lose the big game. To miss the cut. To lose your job. To go through a divorce. To lose someone you love. To not be chosen. To be overlooked.

What happens when you get it all wrong? I have to admit, I often don’t want to get back up. I feel defeated, and I wallow in self-pity.

But that gets old.

What shakes me free from my selfish little pity party is to stop thinking only about me. I reach out to God in prayer—and once I finish complaining and asking “Why me, Lord?” I can eventually hear what God’s been telling me all along: “You are loved. You are blessed. You have a purpose.”