nothing beats flying
“We are afraid,” they said.
“Come to the edge,” he said.
They came and he pushed.
And they flew.
– Appollainare
Ah.
The edge.
There is a lightning rod word.
Edge is … risky … dangerous … uncertain … for the fearless … <insert your own word here>
Because of all those words … some people fear nearing the edge.
Oh.
Of anything.
They like to remain solidly in the middle. Some call it ‘the safe ground.’ On the other hand … other people don’t consider it safe but rather they simply want to keep their feet on the ground. It is nice and solid. It is a place where even if a stiff wind catches you unaware you do not even come close to teetering near the edge.
Now.
Some people like living near the edge. Of everything.
They dance on the balance beam of life. They are really only safe when not moving and steadying themselves but never stopping any longer than to contemplate the next move on the balance beam … the edge … of life. They find comfort in the instability offered by the edge.
Regardless of how you may feel about the edge … to fly you must not only near the edge … you must step off the edge.
Now.
Some people fear flying.
Some people want to fly.
Ok.
Let me take that last one back. I guess I know that all people want to fly <in some way even if it is just in their dreams or ‘what ifs’>.
It’s just that some people are better than others at getting near the edge.
And an even fewer ‘some people’ are better at actually taking that step over the edge.
Now.
To give people a break … stepping off the edge is a big step.
That big scary step … the one where you not only go to the edge … but you step off.
It is truly one small step for a person and one giant leap for who you will be as a person (sorry Neil … I paraphrased ya …).
Some truths about this whole edge and flying thing.
Truth <part 1>?
Sometimes you do not fly … you fall. And you … well … crash. And it sucks <and hurts really really bad>. Yup. Not everyone flies when they go to the edge and take that step.
That is Life.
Just don’t beat yourself up if you fall instead of flying. The fall hurts enough <I know from experience>. But … just because you crashed that time doesn’t mean you can’t eventually learn to fly.
Which leads me to Truth part 2.
Truth <part 2>?
In order to learn to fly you need to overcome fear.
Let’s face it. That first step with just about everything in life contains, at minimum, a sliver of fear and, at maximum, crushing fear.
That’s not bad … in fact it has a natural characteristic of caution … but fear can also be debilitating.
And fear can also create stagnancy.
And fear can exponentially increase in size if you actually crash.
Truth <part 3>?
Please note that I believe flying, or learning to fly, is not about living Life without regrets. While I am a big ‘no regret’ guy this is not about regrets. Because Life is tricky in that it is rarely a straight line. It zigs & zags and whether you have chosen to stand as far away from an edge as you can in Life or you choose to dangle your mind off the edge … Life will place an edge in front of you whether you chose it or not.
I believe the edge is not about regrets but rather the battle between Fear and Curiosity. Because we have both in all of us. And I suggest this is not about regrets because … well … regrets can reside in both Fear & Curiosity therefore simply a derivative of your choice between Fear & Curiosity.
So. All that said.
Here is what Life forces you to balance out.
The dichotomy.
Fear versus Curiosity.
Curiosity stimulates the energy to move. Curiosity, when outweighing Fear, can not only wrestle Fear out of the way to get you to the edge … but actually get you to step off even if you cannot see a landing place. Curiosity is a pretty powerful energy.
And it is powerful because Curiosity offers a prize <where Fear doesn’t really offer any added value … at best Fear offers ‘maintained value’>.
Knowledge <or ‘what is not known’> … that is the tantalizing prize.
So what do I say?
Keep your eye on the prize.
And step off the edge <or at least an edge … or 2 … in your lifetime>.
You may fly.
You may not <this time>.
Scary?
Sure.
But, let me tell you, once you have done it … nothing beats flying.
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