NYE: Highs and Lows

Seven Falls, Eight Rises

The end of the year usually brings a rush of reflection, but today, mine is happening in the sterile stillness of a hospital waiting room. In the quiet of this space, I found myself thinking about the Japanese proverb Nana korobi ya oki (七転び八起き): "Fall down seven times, get up eight."

The math is curious at first. Seven falls should only require seven rises to be upright again. But the proverb assumes something essential, you begin standing. That eighth rise isn't about the arithmetic. It's about the posture you choose: the decision to stand one more time than life knocks you down.

Sitting here among hushed conversations and the hum of fluorescent lights, the proverb feels less like philosophy and more like practice. Resilience isn't always dramatic. Sometimes it looks like showing up for the appointment. The patience of the waiting room. The quiet refusal to let a setback write the ending.

This year has had its share of both: the falls and the rises, highs and lows. The wins that felt hard-earned and the stumbles that came out of nowhere. What I'm learning is that both are just part of the rhythm. The goal was never to avoid falling entirely. It's to make sure the getting up is always the last move in the sequence.

As this year closes, I'm holding onto the spirit of that eighth rise. Not as a burden, but as a choice. The act of moving forward, however imperfectly and however slowly, is itself the victory. And that's something worth carrying into the year ahead.

"Keep your course level, and your wings straight." Photo credits: Arts in Medicine Tile Tales Project