Falling

By: Gabriela Yareliz

I was walking through the village, and I saw a little brown leaf falling in front of me (I looked up and smiled). This year, I have promised myself that I will go to a park and enjoy the leaves when they are in all of their fall glory. My timing is always wrong. I go before the leaves turn or when the leaves are decomposing on the ground. This year, I plan to catch them before they fall. As someone who loves language, I have a weakness for idioms and random expressions. I love to learn about them. Idioms can be profound in many ways, and they can reveal a lot about history and human nature. This post is not a profound look at anything. Just a simple reflection.

I thought it would be fun to look at expressions that use “fall”. Some will be positive, some negative– some depend on how you look at them. Is falling always a bad thing? Not necessarily. In my opinion, some of our most powerful moments are when we fall to our knees to pray.

Stay with me here– I know this is random, but I have a proposition: Let’s fall into this together. Think about how each idiom relates to your life. And enjoy the splendor of the season.

Soundtrack for the post: Falling in Love

[Definitions from The Free Dictionary.com]

1] FALL HEAD OVER HEELS

 “to fall down, perhaps turning over or rolling.”

 In life, we can fall head over heels for a lot of things. The idiom can describe a scary crash into something (head first), or it can define a fast enamoring. It usually refers to some kind of whirlwind that we (may) come to regret later. I feel that in this day and age, we usually fall head over heels for things: dresses, shoes, makeup or something we want to attain.
This phrase is usually associated with the sentiment that we are completely lost and powerless, following our hearts, and not logic.

Throwing all caution to the wind is dangerous, yet even after many disappointments in life, we can’t make decisions based on fear. It is important to always remember that in life we have a choice, and we are responsible for our choices.

Sometimes, life’s magic happens fast, and we find ourselves on the ground head first with our heels over our heads. Falling head over heels is a risk, but a key characteristic about risk takers is they have HOPE.

2] FALL INTO PLACE

“if something that happens makes everything fall into place, it makes you understand something that you did not understand before.”

Things may not end up being perfect in life, however, through the passage of time, even if we do not understand everything in the end, we learn to understand things a bit more than we did when they occurred. That is called personal reflection, right? I think this can only happen when we stop for a minute and examine our lives; the past, the present, the future. If we are constantly preoccupied and busy, it’s hard to see how things fall into place if we never stop to look.

Life can be bumpy like a road; but through the rattles, shakes and bumps, things do fall into place, and we can be confident as we look at the present and future that things will fall into place just as they did in the past.

3] FALL INTO HANDS

“to be caught or controlled by someone.”

In life, we allow too many things to control us. People’s perceptions and opinions, technology, caffeine, drugs, the desire to belong, expectations…

Free yourself, if you wish.

4] FALL APART (AT THE SEAMS)

“to stop working or fail completely.”

Some of us do this everyday (especially those of us who are students or those who work in high-pressure jobs). Keep the seams tight, and don’t unravel. A bag that falls apart at the seams cannot carry or hold the good things placed within it.

5] FALL IN LOVE

“to become enamored of something or someone.”

Always be willing to love again. Four of the best elements of life (according to me) are: laughter, wonder, love and hope. Allow things to take your breath away.

6] FALL UNDER SPELL

“to be fascinated by someone; to be enchanted by someone.”

I associate enchantment with the desire to know more. Being curious makes you seek out simple enchanting details in life, like solving a mystery. Some of the most memorable people in life are those who inspire our curiosity; those who have that je ne sais quoi.

7] FALL ON KNEES

“to kneel down, usually in respect.”

As with idioms, things aren’t always what they seem. Often, we are most powerful when we are kneeing in prayer. Because when we are weak, He is strong.

When we fall on our knees, we must have faith and know that He is, and He rewards those who diligently seek Him. We must also have faith that He is owner of all and can do all things, even what for us is impossible. Without faith it is impossible to please God.

Faith will sometimes hold hands with patience. In that time of wait, we grow and demonstrate our belief in what is to come.

Faith is believing in what we do not see, and the reward of faith is seeing what we believed in. Faith is believing that God does not lie.

8] FALL OFF THE RADAR

“to be forgotten or ignored, often because someone’s attention is on something more important.”

Falling off the radar can be good for us. Attention is taken off of ourselves and placed on something or someone else. We can forget appearances and see ourselves as we really are, without the many hats we wear that try to define us. Being alone is important. Knowing who you are and being comfortable with yourself teaches you to depend on God in a different way. Don’t be afraid to disconnect once in a while (but always answer the phone when you mom calls–don’t make people worry).

9] FALL INTO LINE

“to do something similar.”

Each day, we seem to fall into line with all who surround us. Like the busy streets of a city show masses walking in the same direction. Falling into line can be good; falling into line can be bad. It can mean we have company as we walk, or it can sweep us away to some random place. Whatever we do, we must be mindful, and be very present wherever we are.

While each day may be entrenched with routine, we should still make every day count.

10] FALL ON DEAF EARS

“to be ignored by the persons they were intended for.“

When someone gives us advice or hope, let it not fall on deaf ears. Listen. Listening can change the world. Is there something or someone you’ve been ignoring lately?

[Images from Tumblr]

[Sorry for the typos–my brain is fried. I blame school.]