On February 1st, 2017, the U.S. Figure Skating Association founded a day that was particularly apropos to the profession. Every February 1st is recognized at Get Up Day.
Whether it was roller skating, rollerblading, hockey, ice skating, figure skating, or skateboarding, the beginning months of acquiring those skills seemed to find us more on our butts than on our feet. The more you try to advance your skill, ability, or perform tricks, you seem to digress before progression is made.
I was in third grade when I learned to roller skate. The church had rented Lett’s Skate in Montpelier for a fellowship, and I was looking forward to it. My dad was going to teach me but while working that day, an extremely heavy object was dropped on his foot and his foot and ankle swelled with every shade of purple. He could barely get his work boots off and he certainly wasn’t putting on a pair of roller skates.
We went to the activity anyway and Marv Hartman wasn’t going to leave me on the sideline. After my skates were on, he said, “C’mon,” and just about dragged me onto the floor. With a big arm around me, we went around and around. He would give me some instructions, release me, and down I’d go, crashing to the floor. Like the claw game in the arcade, those arms scooped me up, got me steady, and off we went. By the end of the night, I was skating on my own. Still, I wiped out many times.
As the years progressed, I got better and seldom fell. Mastering a new skill, though, always served as a setback. The first thing I tried was crisscrossing my feet on a turn rather than gliding and leaning. You can imagine what happened. My feet tangled and I hit the floor. Trial and error soon gave way to success, and I was able to do it.
Even professionals fall. In three days, the Winter Olympics will begin in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy. Categories such as speed skating, figure skating, and skiing events will feature some of the best athletes from around the world. They’ve trained since childhood to reach this pinnacle of their career and the ability to compete on the world stage. But looking at the history books, you will find page after page of individuals who fell, some with devastating, career-ending injuries. Those able to continue competing got up and finished their competition. Those who were injured eventually got up. Depending on the injury, they may not have been
able to return to their sport of choice. They did, however, get up and continue doing something.
Michelle Kwan was a famous name in figure skating. Her aspirations for achieving the gold at the Olympics were denied. However, in domestic and international competitions, she often skated away with first place finishes. She fell many times but got up and skated. Had it not been for physical injury, she would have skated longer. Instead, she went back to college, earned her master’s degree in international relations at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from Southern Vermont College. From 2022-2025, she served as the United States Ambassador to Belize.
She got up!
Do you feel knocked down in life? Have things not gone as you had hoped? Does there seem to be a larger pile of disappointments than successes? What will you do about it? You can either stay down and wallow in misery or, by God’s strength and help, get up and carry on.
Psalms 37:23-24 says, “The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way. (24) Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the LORD upholdeth him with his hand.” We are told in Proverbs 24:16, “For a just man 
falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief.” It would seem that if we are knocked down and can’t get back up, it is by our choice to stay down. It’s not by God’s design.
Life is going to happen. We are going to trip and stumble. Staying down, though, from the fall is a choice we make and we should never choose to stay down. Learn from the fall, fix what caused the fall, and go again. Cling to the promise of Psalms 145:14 today.
“The LORD upholdeth all that fall, and raiseth up all those that be bowed down.”
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