Berry & Lincoln store sign at New Salem
Many people may not know that Abraham Lincoln failed in a business venture when he was a young man living in New Salem. He became part-owner in a store. I think he became sole owner afterward. At any rate, the whole enterprise came crashing down when it “winked out.” The unfortunate affair left the young Lincoln with a debt that would take him years to repay. Commenting about something else, Lincoln said: “It’s a slip and not a fall.” He may have been thinking about his store ownership days. Although it was, indeed, a slip-he kept going on with his life eventually reaching the highest office of the land. He had many others “slips.” Yet, Lincoln always got himself up (figuratively) and kept moving. May we all remember his perspective. I suspect that he knew that most things in life are slips. Some people quit after a slip. That’s truly sad. Slips are not fun but they can be used as learning experiences. Hopefully, we become older and wiser from the things learned by the “slips.” Lincoln, by the way, eventually paid back that debt on the store in it’s entirety. By doing so, he proved to himself that it was only a slip and not a fall.
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