Nothing But Net?

There are times in our lives when focusing on our own, limited, personal resources may discourage us from making significant, daring, or perhaps more fulfilling choices.

Many of us live our lives within constraints that are not real constraints. We may allow society's definitions of success to cloud over our internal sense of what is right for us as individuals. We may spend most of our lives looking for roadmaps to places that other people have not yet visited. We may become paralyzed with fear of failure or even of change.

The path from outset to journey's end is in some ways like a gymnast's high beam. Sometimes we are so terrified of falling that we won't even step up. Even if we do, our fear of falling has us standing stiff and motionless, without enjoying the process and definitely without looking down and enjoying the view! What a shame it would be to reach the end of your life only to find that the high beam was only a few inches off the ground. Or that, beneath you, there existed tremendous support networks (of various kinds, including self-reliance, family, friends, or community, etc) which could have helped you succeed in (or recover from a failed attempt at) striving for the things that drive you. Perhaps it's not until you jump that your net will appear.

All around us are examples of people who have walked the high beam. Through acts of faith, desperation, and/or courage they have managed to move past their fear, overcome obstacles, and work towards their goals by mounting the high beam and taking step after step, discovering their support networks along the way.