As I sit on the beach at 81st street, also known as Surfer's Beach, I watch the daily surf lessons that are given to all that are looking to catch a wave.

Week after week, I watch the proud parents, grandparents, siblings, aunts and uncles stand at the water's edge, cameras and cell phones ready to capture their "newly trained" surfer stand up on the board and ride a wave.

Most people wipe out several times, but with encouraging reinforcement from their surf instructors and the pressure of pleasing the small fan club of family members, they keep trying to catch that wave.

Several people are lucky enough to have immediate gratification, where others it takes a few attempts, but eventually they get the hang of it.

And then, there are some that no matter how hard they try, they just aren't ready to jump up on the board.

I hear the claps and cheers that their surfer just stood up!

I also hear the encouraging advice when they did not meet their goals.

Wouldn't it be nice if we all had our own cheering section?

After all, we all have some choppy waves to conquer. Sometimes, life seems smooth and sometimes, it can knock you down.

The point is, to get up, and keep trying.

Maybe, we need to learn to be our own cheerleaders.

Let's start congratulating ourselves on all the little things we do each day.

I worked out today…. big round of applause.

I made dinner 3 days this week……applause

Maybe even for some people, I got out of bed today….applause.

I hope that no matter what we go through in life,

We have the courage to stand up!

Let's root for ourselves, and others around us.

Perhaps, there will be days when we won't need a cheering squad, but maybe that's the day we will show up, and be ready to applause someone who does.