I have been a comic book fan for as long as I can remember. Good versus evil. Right overcoming wrong. Justice for the underdog. My heart is stirred by those themes. One of my all time favorites is Batman. I mean, who doesn’t love Batman? (Um…bear with me….)
I am not talking about the 1960’s Boom Pow Zap Holy Everything Batman. I am talking about the Batman from the comic book. The character who experienced loss as a child in the murder of his parents and works to bring those who would perpetrate the same to justice. The character was very accurately (in my mind) portrayed in the movie Batman Begins. A young Bruce Wayne is angry and unfocused, but finds his calling in defending Gotham.
One line stuck with me from the movie. You see in a flashback to Bruce Wayne’s past a conversation he has with his father. His dad asks him this: ‘Why do we fall down Bruce? So we can learn to pick ourselves back up again.’
I have been thinking hard about my life this month. I have made the choice to give my best this year and to live my life on purpose. I am realizing in the pursuit of that goal I am going to fall down a lot. The bad thing about goals for the New Year is we don’t suddenly become different people on January 1st. We just are more hopeful with the prospect of a clean slate.
It takes a lot of determination and guts to envision the life you want and then take progressive steps to see that vision carried out. What you don’t see is all the times the successful people you know almost threw in the towel, but didn’t. They persevered. Every time life knocks them down they get back up.
Maybe that is why I like super heroes as much as I do. They don’t give in. They don’t surrender. They get back up when they fall down. Good wins over evil. Gotham is saved for another day. And they get to wear a cool utility belt that does everything from opening bottles to vaccinating for the flu…You know what I mean.
Why do we fall down? So we can pick ourselves back up again. To get anywhere worth going you have to.
David Willis 
Wonderful post. I can only hear the following Hours’ song “Ali In The Jungle” playing in the back of my mind… and it is oh-so fitting: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWuVEhTJPdw
Listen, and I feel you’ll agree.
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Thank you for your comment. I had never heard that song before, but am downloading it from iTunes as I type. Really enjoyed that one. Thanks for the suggestion.
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Hi David – glad your wife found Chatting at the Sky and sent you over! I love what you say here, about living your life on purpose this year. I scrolled down a little and saw a few things you’ve written before and I thought you might like the book “The War of Art” by Steven Pressfield. Have you read it? I’m in the middle of it, and though I don’t agree with all of his life theology, his thoughts on writing and on art are right on, I think. You may enjoy it.
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I recently subscribed to Mr. Pressfield’s blog. It is on my list of books to read over the next few months. Thank you for the suggestion. I will have to move it up the queue. I am two-thirds the way through Chris Guillebeau’s ‘The Art of Non-Conformity’ which has been a very good read as well. Thank you for your comments. I look forward to your next post.
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