skating through life

Today we went skating as a school as a sendoff for March Break. Most of the students went including 4 of the Kindergartens. One of my students was skating with his dad and kept falling. When I would skate beside him I was encouraging him with "you are fast" and he would answer "I know". When I said "you are doing a great job" he would answer with "I know". It didn't matter how many times he fell, he KNEW he was a great skater! I loved his tenacious attitude! As I kept watching him, he continued to fall and get back up and keep skating. At one point he fell and was down for a little bit longer than usual and his dad was looking at his skate. I skated over and asked if everything was alright. The dad looked at me with a grin and said "he told me to look at the blades because that MUST be the reason he keeps falling!" I couldn't hold it in I laughed, and yet when have I done that in my life? Telling people I know, yes I can, but when I keep falling I don't look at what the real problem is that is causing me to fall. If I take the time to stop what I am doing, look deep at what the root issue is that is allowing me to stumble, and create the choice to shift and move forward, then I can truly do that. Suffering IS optional and I would rather live life skating forward on my feet than constantly landing on my backside!