When your legs don’t work like they used to before…

We all know this famous song lyric from Ed Sheeran’s “Thinking Out Loud.” We’ve all also had those days where we’ve woken up knowing exactly what Ed Sheeran meant by those ten words.

We experience anger, shame, and just plain sadness when we feel that any progress we’ve made has gone down the drain. Our legs stopped working like they used to, and that's a scary feeling. No one wants to plateau or worse, digress.

So, yeah, it is completely normal to feel upset or discouraged when you realize that you’ve lost stamina. Somehow, along the way, you lost sight of your goals. You lost track of your dreams. You got lost. Somehow, you started moving in the wrong direction.

But it’s okay. That’s the most important thing to remember. The path to success and happiness is a winded, twisted one. It is by no means an upwards shooting arrow. You will make mistakes, and you will fail. Your legs won’t be able to carry you effectively 100% of the time -- you're only human. But it’s not the end of the world.

Furthermore, your legs need to stop working every once in a while to remind you of your goals and of the reasons why you wake up every morning in the first place.

Walt Disney’s editor told him that he “lacked imagination and had no good ideas” before he fired him in 1919. Modeling agencies told Marilyn Monroe to look into a career as a secretary instead of a career as a model or an actress. And remember when Michael Jordan was taken off of his high school basketball team?

These three people succeeded like nobody’s business. And it is because their legs stopped working for a moment. Walt Disney would go on to completely change the childhoods of millions of people. He was only able to do this after he got fired because he took a moment to remember who he was and who he wanted to be. More importantly, he remained calm. He did not let this one setback devastate them. Marilyn Monroe and Michael Jordan did the same.

It’s just like Leslie Jones from SNL said about Oprah when Oprah got fired: “[Oprah] was just some 23-year-old punk who needed to get fired so she could become Oprah.” Our negative experiences, as depressing as they can be, craft us into the strong people that we are. They help us grow and reveal the efficacy and goodness within us.

I assure you that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. It will be an uphill battle until you can find your legs again, but once you do find them -- and you will find them -- you will already be on your way to success and happiness. As long as you stay determined and persistent, your legs will start working like they used to, and you will get over this hump. I can promise you that.