If At First You Don't Succeed, Skydiving's Not For You

If you can figure out what the meaning of this statement is, please let me know.

I saw it yesterday on the tube in a religious advertisement. Curious, very curious. It appears to be some sort of logical loophole and the more I think about it the more I keep going around in circles only to be brought back to one question: what does skydiving have to do with the Kabbalah?

I've recently become addicted to Kelly Clarkson's song "What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Stronger" as a sort of motto for my time so far in London. Though I do LOVE striding to and fro the tube while listening to Kelly belt it out and patting myself on the back for how incredibly gutsy I am for moving from one English speaking, civilized first world metropolis to another, this is a statement with which I am going to have to respectfully disagree: some things DON'T make you stronger. Breaking your tailbone, chronic illness and low iron levels just to name a few.

It's obvious that Kelly is not really talking about the "physical" kind of strength (although people who have just broken their tailbones might feel differently) but the emotional or mental strength that enables one to "come back swinging". After you've had the chicken pox as a child, you've had it - been there, done that, and you're never supposed to get it again - this is what Ms. Clarkson is singing about. Once you've conquered something it can never beat you in the same way again. This is kind of how I feel (hope) my time is shaping up here in London. Now that I'm actually here doing it I feel buoyed by the sense that at least I've gotten this far, conquered most of the challenges up till now, and strangely, wonderfully enough, my footsteps ARE even lighter.

I'm really sorry for all the horrible analogies I used in this post. Also if I wrecked this song for someone who actually did like it, my most sincere apologies.