As part of one my contractual responsibilities, I was conducting a site visit and monitoring activities at an after-school program. The interactions of two students caught my attention. Student “A” had a stuffed animal, and another student took it from him and would not give it back when asked. A counselor intervened on behalf of Student A. She gently reprimanded the student who had taken the toy and who was, now, clearly embarrassed. He returned the beloved stuffed animal and then pulled the brim of his baseball cap over his eyes. Student A attempted a reconciliation, but “Brim” was having none of it and remained in his emotional “pit” for several minutes.

Before program staff served meals, students repeated aloud their daily motivation. I saw “Brim” slowly lift his hat and mumble the affirmation. At the end of the affirmation, Brim was in good spirits and engaged in activities as if the stuffed animal incident had never taken place.

Of course, I surmised “Brim” decided the other students were having a lot of fun and he did not want to miss any of it. Wisely, he decided the best thing for him was to “bounce back,” re-engage and participate in the activities. I noticed he had learned his lesson; he did not touch the stuffed animal again.

There will be times in our lives when we make decisions and afterwards not feel good about them. At those times, it is possible we could end up emotionally and professionally wounded, and sometimes embarrassed by what we have done. As humans, we will, on occasion fall into negative mental and/or emotional pits, but the goal is not to make “the pit” our home.

I encourage everyone to push back from “the brim of embarrassment” and jump back into life. There is too much at stake to stay in “the pit.” You have too many gifts inside you, too many higher goals to achieve, too many accomplishments waiting to come to fruition, and too many success stories in your future to waste time in “the pit.” Up and out and re-engage Champion. The world is waiting for positive contributions; the ones only you can make happen. Bounce back.