How many of us have ever wanted to climb something to get a better view-point or to challenge yourself?  Most of us.  Now, I understand some of you may be afraid of heights, and I understand that.  That is why they tell you, “Don’t look down”!  Have you had moments where you have worked really hard towards something, given it everything you have, wanting the outcome to be good and then anxiousness, self-doubt, and questions come back into play?  And then the outcome in the end is not what you wanted?  Pretty sure that has hit most of us too.  No one is immune to failure or disappointment.  No one.  There is not one of us that has never failed or ever been disappointed in some way, at some point in our life.  Maybe it is something little, such as the 1st grade teacher we really wanted isn’t our teacher.  Maybe the girl in my PE class won’t talk to me because I have braces.  Maybe we lose a job.  But when these moments come — and they do — I am reminded of something that I have believed for a very long time.  That EVERYTHING happens for a reason.  We may not like that it happened or understand the reason, but there is a lesson in there somewhere.  I know it stings right now, but it may turn out to be the best thing that every happened to you.  We all fall off the trapeze at some point.  No one ever wishes that a fall would be a good thing, especially for someone that they care about.  Even when you are up on the trapeze swinging back and forth, loving the swaying (that would make some of us sick), there is always that chance that you could fall.  But there are times, when we have had enough and refuse to get back up on the trapeze because everything that we thought we knew seems like a lie.  It is too hard to keep going back up there and keep getting knocked down.  But what if you kept getting in there — ready to fight for what you want, no matter how hard it is, no matter how many times you get told no, no matter how much it hurts?  Guess what?  During the entire time when you are ready to throw in the towel, THAT lesson is also teaching you something.  It is teaching you what you are made of and that you can do more than you thought you could.  It teaches you that with more practice, you become better at it.  It teaches others that you are not a quitter.  And although these are not your choices, they are the choices you must deal with and ultimately move on from.  The trapeze is just a way to get you where you want to go — the choice to get there is up to you.  Getting back up takes courage…and this song reminds me to always get back up.   “Courage” by Orianthi, with Lacey