"You gotta hold your head up high, watch all the negative go by. Don't ever be ashamed to cry. You go ahead cause life's like a jump rope."

-Blue October

In my whole life, I don't think I have ever heard a song that truthful and relatable! Have y'all heard it? If not, y'all need to make your lovely phalanges pull up a new tab and type "Jump Rope by Blue October" into YouTube like, right now!

Now, when I was younger, to me, it was just a fun song that my mom would always sing along to because it was by her favorite band and, at times, she would encourage my sister and I to dance to it with her. During those moments, I never really paid attention to the words or the meaning and, frankly, I didn't really care. But now that I am grown and have had my fair share of up's and down's, I basically live by this song. Whenever I'm in a real funk and I need that pick-me-up, I just turn on that song and It helps me pull through some of those really tough moments in my life that I think I will never come out of. I mean you can't help but get into a happier mood when listening to the song.

"Up, down. Up, down. Up, down."

I mean isn't that how life works? You go up and then you go down and then you go up again and you go down again. But once you're down, you will go back up. You are never stuck on the bottom, no matter how down you feel. Though, there is one good thing about hitting rock bottom! Once you're at the bottom, you can only go up!

Nowadays, we all get so tangled in the rope of life that we are living that we get stuck at times and seem to have difficulty freeing ourselves. So, we sit there and stare at our tangled legs wondering how we got to this point or wonder what we did to deserve this. We always seem to think "Why me? Why did this happen to me?" Well, why does anything happen to anyone? Those moments, when we question life's intentions and start blaming others is when we are experiencing a "down" but, if we wait just a bit, we soon will be soaring through the sky feeling high due to the "ups" in our life. Okay, so you failed a test, got a ticket, got in trouble at work or you got in a fight with someone you love, etc.

Guys, I am going to take this moment to say a quick positive note: I am positive bad things will happen to you and I am positive you will fall. Now, before you go *GASP* that's so rude. How dare this peasant say I will fall! Off with her head!" (I know you would never turn into the Queen of Hearts and say that, haha!) But, it is going to happen one way or another! It's up to us to decide how we approach it. I really want to tell you that everything's going to be okay and that things will go your way. At times they will and then they won't. Again, just like a jump rope: up, down. Are we going to sit there and stay tangled, or are we going to get up and start over again? You are going to get up! When you go down, go back up with your head held high and let your presence be known. So, "stomp your feet so hard you make it pound!," make the ground shake but, never forget who you are!

Quick little side story to elaborate on my spill. Back in the days of Yore when I was an Oh to excited FFA member, which was like only three years ago, I remember going to a summer camp and being told the story of the Donkey in the Well. Well, guess what?! If you haven't heard of it I'm about to tell that story!

Like I said before, sometimes we get so caught up with life and we fall or stumble, but unfortunately not everyone gets up. They either let people continue to throw dirt onto their back or they just sit there and stare at their tangled legs. This is depression. I know how severe depression is; I am watching it tear at my family, as we speak. I have witnessed my friends suffer and there is nothing worse than watching someone suffer and knowing you are physically unable to help them. All you can do is provide support and try to work them through it. This is why I am so passionate about life being like a jump rope because sometimes people forget that there are ups and they just think there are downs. There ARE ups! The hard part is getting back into the jumping but once you start then it just comes natural.

I am probably just preaching to the choir but, life is going to knock us all down and throw dirt on top of us. We all are going to stumble over that pesky jump rope but, with every step or jump, we all become just a little closer to reaching our goals. Not even the deepest well can keep us down! No matter how low you feel, I ask for you to never give up so shake that dirt from your back and get prepared to continue jumping over that rope.

Because life's like a jump rope.

"Up, down. Up, down. Up, down."