Choices
So now I'm here on the edge of the cliff. I am faced with
choices, again. I look out over the vast landscape; lush and
verdant, rolling hills and trees as far as the eye can see, a
serpentine strip of grey snaking its way through the lower valley.
Nothing to obscure my view.
I glance over my shoulder, back from where I came, and the rocky
road behind me offers no comfort, nor option. Head forward then, and
survey my next conquest. Spread below me is opportunity, a home, a
chance to begin anew.
I look for a way down, and peeking over the edge, I see that it
will be no easy task to scale down this wall of massive boulders and
loose gravel. Not impossible, but extremely challenging. The other
option is to simply jump, throw myself over the edge. I believe it
is called a "leap of faith". Considering what I have gone through to
get here, it would certainly be that- a leap of faith. I close my
eyes and review all that has transpired before this moment, all the
hardships and obstacles I've had to overcome and endure. The ten
thousand steps on my road to freedom.
A warm breeze lilts by, flitting a few hairs across my face, my
eyes. It smells like summer, like possibility, like dreams. I try to
imagine what it will be like to simply let go, to trust, to move
forward without anymore fears or thoughts of failure.
When I was a child, a very small child, I remember that I used to
be utterly fearless, I simply trusted that things would turn out,
that I was doing what I was supposed to be doing. I didn't over-
think every move I made, I was spontaneous all the time, and acted
with complete impunity. Everything in the world was magic: people
didn't hurt you, no one died, I was beautiful and perfect just the
way I was, tragedy wasn't a word I was familiar with. There was
nothing that I couldn't do, that was also a foreign concept, that I
couldn't do something, anything.
But life and people have a way of teaching you what you need to
learn. I don't know why we have to learn such harsh lessons, but we
do. I never understood why the magic had to be the first thing to
go, taking faith along with it. But there you have it. Now I have to
find magic in more simplistic forms, and I have to break faith down
to its least common denominator. The power of one.
I open my eyes, stalling isn't going to make this any easier. It
is time to take the next step. I edge towards the rim of the cliff
and peer over again, hm, steep. I turn and walk back the way I came,
taking my time, strolling almost. Then I spin around and run as fast
as I can, and throwing my arms open wide, I dive off into the open
expanse, and I am fearless again, I am free...
