The other day I took the children to the circus as a treat. Of course they were very excited with all the acts and the abundance of candy floss, but one act that really stood out was a gorgeous contortionist.
This elegant German lady, twisted her body into different amazing and unbelievable positions. The audience watched in awe.
She then arrived at the part in the act where she leaned against a stool with one knee and raised one foot which acted as if it was a hand by taking possession of a bow and arrow. The contortionist then placed her hands onto the stool and did a handstand stretching her legs high in the air and then bent her legs so that her feet were just above her head with the arrow. It was incredible to see. She then pulled the string back on the bow and aimed towards her target which was a blue balloon. She missed!
She looked really put out with herself for missing but she tried again. You could actually feel the tension in the air from the audience wondering if she was going to hit the balloon on her second attempt. She repositioned herself, aimed, fired and missed again.
The contortionist looked really cross but the audience didn’t care. They began clapping in sync with each other, willing her on to succeed. She attempted a slight smile in acknowledgement of the crowd’s goodwill but you could see she was really mad with herself.
So for a third attempt, she repositioned herself and twisted her body so that she was perfectly aimed at the balloon. She released the arrow which pierced the balloon and popped it. The audience jumped to their feet and roared in delight. She had finally succeeded.
I found the whole thing fascinating. In spite of the pressure of having hundreds of people in the audience and continued missed targets, she never gave up.
This same principle can be applied to our everyday life. When something gets in our way, it might be irritating or even annoying, but don’t let it be a permanent block to achieving our targets or goals. Too often we are swayed into a different course of action when things do not go our way. What the contortionist showed was you pick yourself up and persevere. Keep going and you will get to where you want. Be resilient! In short the beauty of life is never give up!