Rebounding and the physics of life.
Do you remember superballs from when you were a child? Knowing how things are going in the world - no more tag at recess, no Red Rover, no jungle gyms, no slap bracelets, no Rice Krispies at Halloween- they are likely illegal now. But if they are, what comes in a sack of jacks? Do kids even know what jacks are?
All these rules are just really stupid if you ask me. Let kids play violent video games to learn how to fight well, and be sure they have their own social channels to keep up with trends and learn all about drugs and crime, but at least they won’t burn off too much sugar by running around or trip in a hole on the playground! I digress.
The superballs… I mean wow right? To be honest, I was actually a little afraid of them. I mean, not in a boogie man in the closet sort of way (though what do they expect if hats are on the top shelf, clothes hung in the middle, and shoes on the floor?), but in a who-knows-what’s-gonna-break, adrenaline-rush sort of way.
Balls fascinated me. I think they fascinate all children.
When you are super small, you can’t hold anything well, so everything drops. But everything you are given to hold is soft (as if they know you will drop it). And you are only a foot or less off the ground, so how exciting can anything falling truly be anyway?
Then come sippy cups and applesauce in Sesame Street bowls. These are a bit more exciting. For one thing, if you drop them, mom gets mad. But if you drop them hard enough, it’s like magic, and apple juice (or sauce) goes everywhere! That reaction, and mom’s reaction, are quite fascinating.
Add a year or two and a couple of inches, and toys get much, much better.
I was reading a book for athletes recovering from injuries this past week. And the motto for at least the beginning several chapters was
The harder the fall, the greater the rebound.
And it made me think back to my first truly bouncing toys. First was the multicolored air-filled beach ball. Then there was a slinky (that I often got tangled up), a yo-yo in my stocking one year (that I always got tangled up), and the Campbell boys’ basketball we played with across the street.
As soon as a child gets their hands on a toy that is not soft, and especially those that are round like balls, amusement escalates as they start to comprehend the concept of bounce. It is rapidly appreciated that, contrary to the stuffed cow, or duck, or doll, or …., when these items are dropped, they come back up.
More remarkable still is the fact that, the harder they are dropped (or thrown), the higher and faster they come back up! More than once I remember being smacked in the face with a ball as I experimented with this new life concept- an event I believe must be a right of passage into proper childhood- for I observed the same steep learning curve about ball rebound in other children I knew.
Over time understanding is enhanced, and transitions into using the slinky and yo-yo. If you’ve ever been knocked in the face with a wooden yo-yo, you may remember the confusion as you tried to work out how to drop it down hard, but not too hard, because you want the rebound to bring it back to your hand, not up to the sky then into a tangled mess! Same with the slinky.
The super ball? It’s in a league of its own. Where’s my helmet?!
The harder the fall, the greater the rebound.
Rebounding from trials and setbacks in life is no different. While Newton may have been the first to describe in mathematical terms the concept of equal and opposite forces always at play on physical objects due to gravitational pull, the same applies in many ways to our characters as they develop through our lives.
I’ve written extensively on the various noble attributes that come as God walks with us and refines us through trials in our lives- humility, perseverance, wisdom, patience, strength, and overall greatness of character. Countless stories of adversity and rebound to greatness are found throughout the scriptures. And the same awesomeness is witnessed in the world around us every day.
Reflect on the testimonies that stand out the most at a church camp event and the stories that draw in the most readers and viewers in newspapers and online platforms. It’s not the tales of horrific events or stock market fluctuations that stay with us or acquire “likes”… nor do films without happy “rebound” endings score well at the box office. It’s the stories of adversities overcome that capture us and fill us with admiration, courage, and hope.
The athlete who is tragically paralyzed and returns to win the Paralympics only a few years later. The riches to rags stories heard on Shark Tank. The working father putting himself through school and barely scraping by to provide for his family, who finishes top of his class and starts his own architecture firm. The young woman with severe anorexia who pulls through, becomes a coach, and shares her story with the world through a book that helps thousands of others.
These are the stories of rebound. When a good, strong, wonderful child of God is put through the testing part of the testimony, she emerges with more strength, more courage, more grit, more determination, more discipline, more grace, and more character in every sense of the word.
Hitting rock bottom in life hurts- every single time. It can literally feel like you have been destroyed. It will take time. And it will take a lot of character building and trusting God. But always remember-
