Up-Talk is Chatter that Matters

Thomas Carlyle said, “Permanence, perseverance and persistence, in spite of difficulties and obstacles… distinguishes the strong from the weak.” Stories, songs and stunts about courage engages people. Some times, things happen and we cannot help it. It may not be our fault but no matter what happens, we try to make the most of things. Bold, daring conversations about our trials spark stronger relationships with others.

Your friends will be amazed how you can turn water into ice cubes or turn lemonade into ice cubes… in seconds! Have you ever heard the saying, “When life gives you a lemon, make lemonade?” It means, when the road of life gives you a wrong turn, find something beautiful to see or do. Here is a stunt that demonstrates this lesson,

Preparation: Tightly pack a paper cup half full of wadded napkins, tissues or cotton balls. Just before you are ready to do the trick, take an ice cube from the freezer. Wait a few seconds for it to warm up a bit and then drop it into the cup. You’ll also need another cup, half full of water. Place each cup on a saucer.

Say: “I can freeze water just by blowing on it.”

Do : Pour some water onto the ice cub in the cup. (Handle the cup casually, as if it were empty. Your friends should not see the ice cube and napkins already in it. They should think it is just an ordinary, empty paper cup.)

Do: Blow a few times into the cup then tilt it so that the ice cube falls out onto the saucer. The napkins absorbed the water.

Tip: Remember to hold the cup so that no one sees the ice cube before you do the trick. Do not let anyone see the napkins. Experiment before you do this trick to see just how much water the napkins will absorb.

You can do this trick with orange juice and an orange slice or lemonade with a lemon slice.

Change an ordinary event into something memorable. For example:

My friend went sailing off the coast of Long Beach, California. The wind came up unexpectedly and blew him so hard, he just kept sailing out to sea. Two hours later, he saw Catalina Island and he went for it. When he reached the Island, the wind subsided. He anchored and went ashore. It was a great day for sailing and hiking. Afterwards, he spent the night in a calm cove. It was a wonderful weekend. He turned a lemon into lemonade. In other words, he turned something that could have been dangerous and harmful into a beautiful opportunity.

Have you ever had a flat tire and someone really nice stops by the car to help you? I have. Usually, Auto Club helps us with this problem but in the l970’s and l980’s, I often fixed flat tires with someone else’s help.

My Toyota Landcruiser had a habit of getting flats. I drove it off-road and there were lots of things to puncture my wheel. After my flat was exchanged for my spare, I invited my helper to dinner. What a great way to meet people! I turned lemon into lemonade.

Have you ever had a friend stop talking to your or answering your calls? What did you do about it? Did you turn the situation into an opportunity to make a new friend?

Did you ever go to school and have a substitute. Were all the disappointed, at first, then that substitute turned out to be hilarious? How did he or she turn lemons into lemonade?

This is a story about wrong choices. First, a man is broken hearted because his sweetheart fell in love with someone else. His girlfriend made the wrong choice. She picked the strong, handsome trapeze artist. I cannot tell the end of the story. It has a trick ending. She did not turn a lemon into lemonade. The lemon turned her into a lemon.

Song: “The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze” ( public domain… story follows)

Once I was happy but now I’m forlorn
Like an old coat that is tattered and town
Left on this wide world to fret and to mourn,
Betrayed by a maid in her teens

The girl that I loved she was handsome
I tried all I knew her to please
But I could not please her one quarter so well
Like that man up on the Trapeze

CHORUS:
He’d fly through the air with the greatest of ease
A daring young man on the flying Trapeze
His movements were graceful, all girls he could please
And my love he purloined away

This young man by name was Signor Bona Slang
Tall, big, and handsome as well made as Chang
Where’er he appeared the Hall loudly rang
With ovation from all people there

He’d smile from the bar on the people below
And one night he smiled on my love
She winked back at him and she shouted, “Bravo!”
As he hung by his nose up above!

CHORUS

Her father and mother were both on my side
And very hard tried to make her my own bride
Her father he sighed and her mother she cried
To see her throw herself away

‘Twas all no avail she went there ev’ry night
And would throw him Bouquets on the stage
Which caused him to meet her, how he ran me down
To tell you would take a whole page

CHORUS

One night I as usual went to her dear home,
Found there her father and mother alone
I asked for my love and soon they made known
To my horror that she’d run away!

She’d packed up her box and eloped in the night
With him with the greatest of ease
From two stories high, he had lowered her down
To the ground on his flying Trapeze!

CHORUS

Some months after this I went to a Hall
Was greatly surprised to see on the wall
A bill in red letters which did my heart gall,
That she was appearing with him

He taught her gymnastics and dressed her in tights
To help him to live at his ease
And made her assume a masculine name
And now she goes on the Trapeze!

She floats through the air with the greatest of ease
You’d think her a man on the flying Trapeze
She does all the work while he takes his ease
And that’s what’s become of my love

Lyrics from a song in Public Domain

There are videos of this song on Google:

You tube: Charles Szabo

Burl Ives: The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze Vintage Music

www.lyrics.com: The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze.

History:

Scriptural Application:

According to The Tin Pan Alley Song Encyclopedia, the 1868 song “The Daring Young Man On The Flying Trapeze” is “arguably the most famous circus song in American popular music”; the lyrics are generally credited to the English music hall performer George Leybourne, and the music to Alfred Lee, but “the authorship is suspect, a very similar ditty having been sung in London music halls by comic singer Joe Saunders earlier in the 1860s.”

Oops! If author Thomas Hischak had done a bit more research he would have realized that George Leybourne was the stage name of Joe Saunders (1842-84). The music was actually composed by Gaston Lyle; Alfred Lee was the arranger, and the song was first published in 1867.
The daring young man in question was Jules Léotard, the famous French trapeze artist. Léotard made his music hall debut in 1861 in London’s West End; it was he who invented the leotard, the one-piece garment to allow the unrestricted movement which was so vital in his death-defying act, and which would later become standard wear for ballet dancers.

Léotard was paid £180 a week for his act, the equivalent of £5,000 today, but died aged only 28, from an infectious disease rather than from a fall. Thomas Hischak says the song was first heard in American Vaudeville in the 1870s, where it was popularized by Johnny Allen.
The 1933 Rudy Vallee recording as “The Man On The Flying Trapeze” was a bestseller; this was arranged by May Singhi Breen, who also arranged “Tears,” which thirty and more years later would become a massive hit for Ken Dodd. The composer of this version is credited as Walter O’Keefe on the sheet music, which was published by Robbins Music Corps. It was sung in the 1941 film Under Fiesta Stars, by Gene Autry; the song and subject have also inspired a number of films. >>
This features prominently in the 1934 romantic comedy It Happened One Night, where it’s sung by passengers on a bus – including stars Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert.
This was used on a 1978 episode of The Muppet Show when Miss Piggy sings it during Kermit the Frog’s ill-fated trapeze act.

While this story is a sad love story, the man who was the, “Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze”, was actually a real person. “Jules Léotard, the famous French trapeze artist. invented the stretchy fabric used by dancers and gymnasts. He inspired this song. Difficulty swinging on the trapeze made him invent clothing that would make it easier for people to perform. He turned a lemon into lemonade. His difficulty was replaced with ease.

Scriptural Application (Optional) TURNING OBSTACLES INTO OPPORTUNITIES

John 16:33, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world”.

Boundaries:

12 Signs You Lack Boundaries – www.harleytherapy.co.uk

5 Ways to Maintain Boundaries with Difficult People

Realize that your needs are important. “When you doubt your own importance, you’re allowing the manipulations of difficult people to gain a foothold,” said Ryan Howes, Ph. …
Be firm and kind. PSYCH CENTRAL NEWSLETTER. …
Have realistic expectations. …
Walk away. …
Remind yourself you’re in charge.