Nothing’s impossible, I have found
For when my chin is on the ground
I pick myself up
Dust myself off
And start all over again
Don’t lose your confidence
If you slip
Be grateful for a pleasant trip
And pick yourself up
Dust yourself off
And start all over again
– Nat King Cole
Whenever I was knocked down in my life a part of me chipped off when I hit bottom. I thought of this as a loss, even a weakness, until I heard the story of the Golden Buddha.
In the temple of Wat Traimit in Bangkok, Thailand, a 9.8 foot tall Golden Buddha, weighing 5.5 tons (5,500 kilograms) sits in a place of honor. Built around 1750, at one point in its history the statue was covered with a layer of stucco and colored glass to conceal its true value in order to prevent it from being stolen. The true identity of the statue was forgotten for almost 200 years. During relocation in 1955, in the final attempt to lift the statue from its pedestal, the ropes broke, and the statue fell hard on the ground. At that moment, some of the plaster coating chipped off, and the gold surface underneath was revealed. The Golden Buddha is estimated to be worth 250 million dollars.
In my past I hid myself behind a protective covering so I wouldn’t be hurt. My true identity was forgotten. Now, when I’m knocked down, I look forward to a piece of that protective covering chipping off. Because when all seems lost, when our ropes can no longer support us and we fall hard to the ground, that is the exact moment our true value, our golden center, will be revealed and we can sit in a place of honor in our lives.
