Keep Your Chin Up

Keep Your Chin Up
by Annie Tornabene

When is a boxer at his greatest risk? It may not be when you think. As a child I had to watch all the boxing matches. The only one I remember in real life was George Foreman. My Dad was a golden glove boxer in his early years and was disappointed when I went into martial arts. After seeing me perform, he said it was like boxing without the gloves. You never knew you could learn lessons about the strings of life from a boxer, did you? It's not in the fight that the boxer is at his greatest risk. That is usually when he is using extra precaution. It's in the morning when he wakes up and looks in the mirror. He or she is more prone to losing the battle when they look in the mirror...when they see themselves eye to eye. It's that space between the ears that catches them off guard. It's the place where he is less dangerous physically and more often throws caution to the wind. Wow, that's the same with you and me.

It's in the mind that he wins or loses the fight. Nine times out of ten, the fight is won when he looks in the mirror with his chin up and feels he can win. He has to remind himself, "Keep your chin up!" His manager has to remind him, "Keep your chin up." Looking down, he is at risk of being hit. Looking eye to eye with your chin up, he's prepared and ready to fight. He can see every movement...every flinch of his opponent.

It's the same with us. We have to prepare ourselves every day. We have to keep your chin up. We have to smile at adversity. Together we can make a difference in understanding depression. It's not how far you've come; it's just that you get back up! Hold your head up high, keep your chin up. You can do it!

When things are going pretty good, it's easy to get distracted from keeping your chin up. You forget that you need to keep your chin up and are vulnerable to getting hit. You know what I'm talking about. Keep your guard up. It's easy to slide right down into the depth of depression when you least expect the darkness to set in...when you have a sudden blow. When you've had a bad day, keep your chin up. Who knows with another blow you just may have a knock out and you win!

As my Grandmaster says, do it in an attitude of gratitude. OK, he said to say "Beat you to a bloody pulp cheerfully." It says the same thing. Keep your chin up. Together we can make a difference in learning to keep our chin up and healing our mind.