How We Fall

There was the man who could rule the world -

- with smarts of books and social graces and athleticism bold with quickness and much strength.

There was little that challenged the man, as he pushed himself harder and harder to be the best he could be. Yet, when the long days weighed on him and he was tired from the hard ambitions he'd trialed himself through.
The man found relief in refreshment, first innocent but then growing in toxication. Soon he began to forget: great experiences he could not recall; bumbling maneuvers that friends would tease him over; then encounters with the law over trivial matters that pummeled his pride into the ground.
Soon the man was lost and confused: the ambition for greatness was still loud but the stumbles of common decency made him question exactly who he was. He pressed himself towards bigger things, yet these incidents became worse. He lost close friends, rent money, the respect of women who loved him. And he still recalled none of it.
So he sat on the bench, alone with only ability and regret, wondering who he was and what to do.