I couldn’t tell you how many setbacks, disappointments, and failures that I experienced in my life. I couldn’t tell you how many times I have thought about just giving up on the things that I want. Or how many times that I have been so afraid to try again, or head out on a new path, because I have failed so many times. But, much like when I fall off of a horse, I always have to get back up and keep going.

The problem is not falling down. The problem is never getting back up. We don’t have to just accept things as they are, and let setbacks keep us from trying again.  We can choose to rise above our circumstances, and keep going. When we fail, we don’t have to say, “oh well maybe it’s not meant to be,” or assume that we just aren’t good enough. But rather we can choose to take our failures, along with the lessons they taught us, and turn them into our fire. We can learn from our mistakes, and try again.

I spent a long time playing small with my life, and not really giving my all in the pursuit of my dreams; I waited for them to magically happen. I guess that maybe I really didn’t, deep down, believe that it was possible for me to make them happen. I didn’t believe in myself. I was afraid. But over the past year, I have learned to rise, in spite of my fear. I have learned to embrace uncertainty, and try again. I have learned that fear is okay, and it doesn’t have to cripple me. I always have loved a good rush, after all.