Nana korobi ya oki
Fall seven times, get up eight
There are times when we all feel that we've failed so much that we should just give up. Of course, when we are more rational, we know that we shouldn't give up. But sometimes we just need words of encouragement. There are many such sayings in English such as, “If at first you don't succeed, try, try again.” The Japanese also have such a saying.
Nana korobi ya oki means, “Fall seven times get up eight.” If you can do that, you will end up standing. In life, there are always ups and downs. No matter how many times you fail, if you can get up just one more time, you can succeed.
There are many people who are afraid to try new things because they are afraid to fail. What they don't realize is that the most successful people are the ones who have failed the most. They've just kept trying. If you don't try, you can never succeed. If you try, at least you have a chance.
It might help to take a lesson from young children. We've probably forgotten the experience, but we all had to learn to walk. If we didn't keep getting up, we'd still be crawling around now. However, we didn't give up. We kept at it until we didn't fall down any more, and now we are able to walk. At the time, we probably didn't even think about failing. Failure wasn't an option. We just did it. We should all have this attitude now. No matter how many times you fail, if you can get up just one more time, you can succeed.
Remember this when you feel like giving up. Or, if someone else is feeling like giving up you can tell them, “Nana korobi ya oki desu ne.”
Usage note: Most Japanese sayings can be turned into complete sentences just by adding “desu” to the end. To add emphasis, add “desu yo”. To ask for agreements (think, “yeah,” “right,” “you know”), add “desu ne”.
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