While we all have the capacity to bounce back from life’s difficulties, sometimes we have a Busted Bounce due to circumstances beyond our control. Life is like a bouncing ball. Sometimes we are up and sometimes we are down. What is most important is not where we happen to be in the cycle of the life, rather our ability to bounce back at least one more time.

Our capacity to bounce back is the result of our experience, preparation, perseverance and attitude. The more difficulty we have faced and overcome the easier it is to bounce back and continue on our merry way. Nevertheless, things happen which can burst our ability to bounce back.

Those who know me or have participated in one of my events know I use the example of a bouncing ball to illustrate and explain my ideas. Recently I found and purchased the “perfect” ball to use in my conferences. It was a traditional black and white soccer ball. I was happy with my new toy and excited to use it. The night before my next event I filled it up with air. Apparently, I filled it up with too much air and the following day I had a Busted Bounce.

My first reaction was to give it to my dogs, Sneaky and Rascal, so they could finish destroying it. I was sad; I had wasted my money on a Busted Bounce. Before giving the ball to my kids, I took the air out of the ball and just before giving it to them had an idea. At one time or another we have all “burst” for some reason or another. During the most difficult of circumstances, it seems there are no solutions and no way out.

The bladder in the ball was intact though deformed. It came out of the ball when the surface broke due to excessive air. As I looked at the hole in the ball it occurred to me this is similar to what we experience when we have our own Busted Bounce. I punched smaller holes around the bigger hole and passed a small rope through the eyelets to mend the damage. I filled the ball with air and, as if it were magic, I recovered my bounce!

We encounter incidents similar to my experience with the ball when we are subject to particularly difficult challenges. First we “burst,” our beings deform in an explosion of emotion. A hole is left in our souls creating a vacuum making it virtually impossible to bounce back immediately. In time, and frequently with the help of our friends and family, we fix the “hole” in our lives created by the challenge. Notwithstanding, we still need “air” to inflate our “ball” to return once and for all from the bottom of a bounce.

It’s critical we take time to recover from a Busted Bounce. We can turn to each other for help to repair the space created by an emotional cataclysm. To get up and go from a Busted Bounce it’s fundamental to find and maintain an excellent positive attitude which gives us the energy we require to fill the vacuum created.

After repairing and inflating our ability to bounce back we will never be the same. Though an emotional scar reminds us of what happened, we can use this experience to strengthen our resolve.  We always have the ability to bounce back at least one more time from any difficulty because, It’s the Bounce that Counts!