I will meet you on the downside. From here, it can only be up. What does not break us makes us stronger. Nothing is so good or so bad that it lasts forever. I have fallen and cannot get up. In every dark cloud, there is a silver lining. There has to be a morning after.
Pick yourself up, dust yourself off and start all over again. For every down, there is an up. Life is like a roller coaster filled with steep highs and lows. For every voyage, there is a first and last step.
So, what am I getting at here? Shit happens but also good stuff? To get up, you must first go down? You need to be down to get up? There will be ups and downs in our lives?
The trick is to remember to get back up, even if it takes a few attempts to rise again.
Know and live the following: there will be struggles, the need for patience will arise, have faith to live by during life’s elevator times and get back up again. These skills should be in our life manuals.
I recently heard someone speak about those two simple words, how they affect us and how they can sometimes be the secret to surviving life.
This remark spurred me to think about people who have shown us how they’ve lived or continue to live. The resilient power of getting back up is a valuable life skill.
Heinrich Albrecht Kreiser wanted to come to America to find his future and fortune. He traveled with little money in his pocket as Henry Miller, a name he’d borrowed from a steamer ticket he’d bought.
Undoubtedly, his family and friends must have thought him crazy (or at least a fool) with his talk of a new life. There must have been many times when the future landowner and founder of Los Banos felt like giving up.
Imagine his arrival in a new country. He probably had nothing but his grit and determination. We know of his many achievements, but we may overlook the times when he likely felt defeated, tired and undone. When he was down, something inside him made him get back up.
The many agricultural families based in our great Central Valley have and continue to face challenge upon challenge. They must combat with an opponent much more powerful than they will ever be: weather.
They work hard and spend endless hours working to produce a fruitful crop and see it within their grasp—only to have too much rain (or not enough) destroy all their efforts. They lose to diseases that decide to visit and harm crops or kill livestock.
They do not have the time to be angry or recover from the sense of loss that affects their livelihood. No, they must pull themselves up, do the work that must be done and start all over again.
Imagine all the people who came to our valley from faraway countries like Italy, Spain, Mexico and Portugal. Think of the bravery it took to leave all they knew and travel to a place they’d never seen because they believed a better life awaited them.
It’s not hard to wonder about the litany of challenges our ancestors met with. They struggled to tame the earth and find water, only to fail. But with determination, they tried, again and again, to make this land their home.
I have known many families that came from those roots and continue working to keep their legacies alive. I think of the Perreiras, Parreiras, Cozzis, Giannones, Errecas, Fawcetts, Mellos and a legion more.
They were down at times but got back up over and over again. In fact, all of us now living in Central California live off the benefits those who came before us provided.
Don’t we all have some of the spirit they planted in us? Let’s look at the numerous subdivisions of homes throughout Los Banos that now house much of the population.
Decades ago, I was one of the thousands who traveled over the pass, bought a new home and thrived on the dream of being a developer. I’m sure every builder and business that now stands had to weather many ups and downs to be here.
I believe the people of our Central Valley are strong and resilient and have all, through their determination and bouncebackability, made us the people and the place we are. Indeed, our combined ups and downs have not only made us who we were and are but who we will be.
Imagine those few brave settlers traveling through our rugged pass. Wheels probably broke off and needed repair, or settlers entirely left their wagons behind.
Think of the Native Americans striving to protect their land, the thirst for water and the search for food. Think of all sides trying to survive because of their own closely held dreams.
We all come from sturdy stock, be it from all our states, Portugal or other countries across the seas. It makes me think of my mother, brother and me when we left our home in Michigan over six decades ago.
We had never visited, but we moved our cat, dog and belongings to California, hoping our futures would be better here. I can guarantee that many low downs and some determined ups kept us moving forward.
The human race is amazing. How many times did our ancestors try before they made the first miracle of fire? How many years, with so much trial and error, did Thomas Edison endure before he created the light bulb?
How many ups and downs did Alexander Bell, Henry Ford, the Wright brothers, or any of our great inventors endure before they made their life-changing discoveries?
I recently watched my great-grandson, Grayson Abejuela, learn how to walk: he tried, fell and tried again until he could walk! What gives us all the internal drive that makes us get back up and face all odds, no matter how tired or bruised we may be?
I believe it’s an inner spark that’s part of our wiring, and we need it to survive the adventures in our lives. We must keep repeating, “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try [or try, try, try, try] again.”
May your life always have more ups than downs, and may all your downs bring forth good fruit.
You can reach Diana Ingram at DIngramThurston21@gmail.com.
