The Moment Before You Leap

I’m going to do it!  I’m taking the plunge.

…I think.

Am I scared?  A little.

Am I crazy?  Probably.

Am I excited?  Hell yeah!

If I don’t do it, I feel as if I will crawl out of my skin as I play it safe and stay small.  I feel as if my poor soul would have to go on life support.

If I do, I might fail.  Face-plant hard on the concrete in front of a crowd of sensible, nay-saying, rule-following onlookers.

And then what?

Well…I guess I’d have to scrape the pieces of me off the ground.  Pick up the remnants of my hopes and pride, and hobble away, tail between my legs.  Off to start life anew.

Is that so terrible?

Sort of? Let me think about this.  By staying where I am, nothing will change…right?

So the real question becomes: Which is worse? Failing… Or never finding out?

If I take the leap… I might not fail.

And even if I do… What is failure, really? That it doesn’t work out the way I planned? That I have to pivot? That I learn something I didn’t expect?

Because I’ve been here before.

I’ve had to start over.

When I ended my marriage, I had no roadmap. Just three young kids and a whole lot of uncertainty. It was messy and scary.

And somehow… it all worked out.

The right job showed up. The right people appeared. Support came from places I never could have planned.

I didn’t fall apart. In fact, I found myself.

So maybe this isn’t about certainty. Maybe it’s about trust.

Trusting that something will meet me on the other side of the leap. Trusting that I’ll figure it out as I go. Trusting that I’m capable of more than I think.

Because staying? That costs something too.

So…I think I already know my answer.

What about you?

Where in your life are you standing right at the edge? And what might happen if you chose to leap?