# Chapter 175

“Fall seven times, stand up eight.” - Japanese proverb

Bootstrapping is underrated in the modern world, people want so much more help than folks expected (or wanted) in the past. We need to recover that can-do-ism of the past, that doggedly determined commitment to getting back up no matter how many times we fall. Now we are so failure-adverse that we rarely fall. Thus we end up timid and afraid and ultimately far behind the frequently falling crowd.

This is a place for the perfect metaphor - roller skating. Or you could use snow boarding too, they both depend upon your willingness to fall (fail) in order to master them. There is a direct correlation between your falling rate and your learning rate in both of these sports. I have been taking my three oldest grandkids skating at the local roller-rink now for a few months. At first none of them to could skate, The two most willing to fall have nearly mastered skating. They are fast and as smooth as silk. The third grandchild is still pulling herself along the hand rail, because she is completely unwilling to fall. Even though they have been skating roughly the same number of times, the skill of two has far outstripped the third, simply because of their willing to fall.

Even I still fall occasionally, even though I have been skating for over 50 years. And yes I am the oldest person out there on skates by quite a bit . . . but the point is that falling is not fun, but it is where all the progress is made.