"Better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all"..."If you never try you'll never know"..."a life without regrets is a life worth living"...
Can someone explain the difference between taking a leap of faith and jumping off a cliff? It's clear that the most fulfilling life experiences come with a risk, but how can you tell the difference between the experience of a lifetime and a foolish leap that leads to failure?
The real answer (the one no one really wants to tell you) is that you can't tell the difference until after you are have jumped off the cliff. The only distinction between the two is one's perspective when looking back at the glorious (or fatal) leap of faith. Olympic gold medalist will never know if their full potential until they push their body to the limits, try the most difficult jump imaginable, or use the strategy that is risky (but could pull off an upset). Researchers never know the extent of their endless experiments until they finally see the reaction or the cure they have been waiting for. A chef never knows the true beauty of an invention until they see the customer light up with joy after they have eaten. These successes aren't determined at the start line, when brainstorming hypotheses, or when you write the recipe. You have to wait until the finish line.
If there isn't a difference between a leap of faith that lets you soar versus a leap that ends in bandages, then why ask the question? I ask because today marks one of the biggest leaps for me. Today I pack my bags and prepare to leap into a new lifestyle, a new culture, and into a new me. At times, I'm 100% certain that this is the right choice for me and that I will walk away a better person and having contributed to a bettered community...but there are those days that I wonder whether I won't make it to the podium or whether I won't even make it to the finish line. That would be a failure, right?
Well, there's only one way of finding out. Today I take a chance on a dream that is soon to become a reality. I don't know whether I'll make it 27 months, whether life will be too different or too hot or too cold or too anything. I don't know if I'll get sick 13 months in or if my work plan will fall through leaving me stranded and feeling useless. It doesn't matter because the risk of failing is easily surpassed by the possibility of succeeding.
So today, I'm ready to start the next journey in my life and I look forward to looking back to (some day) reminiscing about the journey that helped me become a better, stronger, smarter, and more compassionate me...
but until then I'll take one step at a time, one day at a time, and one leap at a time.
