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Everything had been going great until the seventh hold. Rosa had been making steady progress up the face of the rock wall, but then she got to her seventh hold and it was just...out...of...reach. She stretched her right arm, confident she'd feel the rock under her fingers when...whoosh! She over-extended, her balance shifted and quick as a finger snap, she fell. The shock of falling backward scared her so much that she let out the tinest little yelp.
The safety harness tugged around her as she dangled from the rope, swinging along the side of the rock wall. She sat, clinging to the rope that was anchored to the top of the wall. Anchored safely, she had been assured. But now, dangling on the rope, her feet not touching anything but air, she realized she was suddenly paralized with fear. Looking down at the tops of her friend's heads didn't help. The height was making her stomach sommersault. She snapped her eyes shut and refused to look.
"You almost had it!" Yelled Mad River, the Camp Director. "Try again!"
Rosa's breath caught in her throat. "Try again?" She thought. "Is she CRAZY!"
"You can do it, Rosa!" Heather yelled.
"Come on, Rosa!" Shelly shouted. "Ring that bell!"
Rosa looked up the wall to the bell at the top. In the three days they had been at camp, she was the only one who had yet to ring the bell. Every time she got a little bit further up the face, but now, it just seemed too far away. She'd never get there.
"There's a hold right by your left foot," Shelly shouted again. "Turn around and try again!"
"You're not that far from the top!" Heather yelled, encouragingly.
In their tent last night, Rosa had told Heather and Shelly about how badly she wanted to ring the bell of the rockwall. She confessed to them how she felt embarassed to be the only one who couldn't reach the top. Because they were her true friends, they told her that it didn't matter to them if she reached the top as long as she tried her best, but if it was her goal to reach the top, they would do everything they could to help her make it there.
But now, Rosa wasn't so sure she could make it.
"RO-SA! RO-SA! RO-SA!" Heather and Shelly chanted. Rosa, took a deep breath, turned herself around and found her footing back on the wall.
"RO-SA! RO-SA! RO-SA!" The chanting continued. This time more campers joined in. Slowly Rosa found one hold, then another.
"RO-SA! RO-SA! RO-SA!" Louder and louder grew the voices of her friends cheering her on until...DING DING DING! The sound of Rosa ringing the big silenced them all for a second, before everyone cheered wildly, enjoying Rosa's triumph.
Rosa was motivated by her friends cheering her on.
What motivates you to reach your goals?
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