We all have those teachable moments in life that we remember forever. I know I’ve had plenty, and a lot of mine just so happened to have happened in a gym.

I’ve made a little list of a few that I think we can all learn from.

1) When I was in eighth grade, I played volleyball. We were doing a drill in practice in which three of us had to lay on our stomachs and, when the ball was tossed, jump up, turn around and get to the ball before it hit the ground. Then, three more would replace us.

Well, after I’d gone through the drill, one of my teammates laid behind me getting ready for their turn, and I, trying to be cool, started walking backward toward the line and tripped, falling right on my butt.

Everyone in the gym laughed, coaches included.

So what’s the takeaway? Don’t try so hard to be cool because it probably won’t end well. Just be yourself. It’s less painful that way.

2) I ran into the backboard of a basketball goal once; with my face. It hurt.

We were running bleachers in high school, and one of the retractable goals hadn’t been lifted. I was so focused on not tripping on the steps that I managed to miss it. Well actually, I didn’t miss it, I slammed right into it.

Everyone laughed at me, again. Don’t worry, there were no injuries. I laughed it off and got back to my workout, but my ego was a little hurt.

This just goes to show that you can sometimes miss the big picture when you’re so focused on the smaller things. Eventually, you’ve got to look up before it hits you in the face.

3) At an open-gym volleyball practice, I got hit in the face with a kill from the hardest hitter on the team.

I was supposed to be blocking, but I’d been goofing around and stayed off the net instead. Bad idea. I didn’t even have time to react. The ball hit my face and a second later I was on the floor.

Again, there was plenty of laughter.

This will tell you not to put yourself in the wrong position. Had I been at the net like I was supposed to be, I probably could have saved face (see what I did there?).

There are plenty more life lessons I could teach you, but I figure three is enough for now. Hopefully you’ve learned from my mishaps, and if anything, got a good laugh. I know my friends did.