I had always heard the saying "between a rock and a hard place" and I had never fully understood it.

That was, until, I had an experience with a rock and a very hard place.

This last Sunday I had the opportunity to go out on a rock climbing day trip with the University. We made it to the rock face and spent the day climbing there. Then it came time to clean the routes and clear all the riggings we had set up.

I volunteered to clear the last route as it was an easier one and I had never cleared before. After climbing all morning however, my grip wasn't as strong as it could have been and climbing even to the top of a simple route was challenging.

Now you have to know that I am a novice climber and it was by sheer will that I made it to the top of the routes before, this one however, my arms finally gave out and I was on the last move and suddenly stuck.

I tried everything I could, but the last move was a pull up and my arms were shot.

I tried to find a way around this move but I couldn't. I suddenly found myself between a rock and a very hard place. I was hooked into a belay and she was holding me at the bottom so I couldn't fall but yet I had to get to the top and I had no way of doing it.

I was out of energy but decided to make one last attempt, I braced my foot on a hold and pulled with everything I had and suddenly I began gaining ground. With every ounce of energy I had, I kept pulling and fighting my way until I reached a point where I looked down. As my belay came into sight I saw three friends pulling me up.

With every effort I had made, they had been taking up as much rope as they could and lifting me higher than I ever could have gotten on my own. They were the ones who had gotten me out of my dilemma. I thought it was my own will power by which I got to the top but it was not, it was by those friends that I had succeeded.

It is the same way in life. Sometimes we find ourselves wedged between a rock and a hard place. We see what we have to do, but our strength has run out and we no longer have the ability to do it on our own. In these situations its through our friends that we are able to gain enough ground to reach the top. However, we have to keep trying, my friends could only take up rope and help me when I tried to help myself. If we don't at least try, there is no way anyone else can help us.

Do yourself a favor, when you see you're trapped between a rock and a hard place, let your friends know, with their help, you'll be out in no time.