The Cliff's Edge
Location
I stand on the edge of a cliff
Facing out to the sea that seems so far
Looking down, it’s an abyss
An abyss that I’ve always feared venturing into
I know that I’m not the most brave of people
But I want to be able to take the dive like so many others
To take that one little step that could take me into a better place than I am now
Rather than just standing on the edge wondering
Why didn’t I jump?
As I started to take a step forward,
Something grabbed on
Turning around, I saw it was a mirror image of myself
But in her eyes, they were filled with terror
“Don’t do it!” She cried “What if you fail? What if you get hurt?”
I took in her words for a moment before taking her hand off my wrist
She was surprised as I simply smiled and said
“I’ll just climb back up and try again and again
Turning back around, I stared into the abyss once more
Others were jumping already and I was still hesitant
What if she was right?
What if… I couldn’t get back up?
Then I remembered that fear was just something trying to keep me safe
And sometimes
It’s better to jump in head first
So I did
Taking a deep breath, I jumped off with my eyes shut tight
Fearing the worst as I fell further into the abyss
When suddenly, I was surrounded by light
I opened my eyes and found myself standing on solid ground once more
It was never a cliff in the first place
It was a step
A step I had been afraid to take for the longest of time
And as I took another step, it got easier to take another
The journey of a thousand miles starts with the first step
I just never knew how much easier it would get along the way
So now, I don’t think about the what if,
I left fear behind
And began my steps to the rest of my life