Just Step Off

I am standing on a platform high above rushing water that is terribly shallow and huge rocks jutting out.

"You're okay to go." This pretty girl who has just completed an eight point check tells me.

I look at her in disbelief. You've got to be kidding me. A wire, some straps and a clippy thing are what will carry me? As if.

"Just step off." She points to where the platform ends.

Hah, I find myself shaking inside and I take a couple quick breaths. 

Alright then.

With a body bent on going backwards, I force myself forwards. Holding on to the strap, as if that might help somehow, I step, step, jump.

Eyes wide open, I am soaring across. 

I have lived contained, safe, for a very long time. I calculate risk and avoid adrenaline. These are things too big for me. And yet here I am, dangling on a wire over rocks and water, flying with my heart racing and my throat gasping for air. 

My helmet, I'm sure, is simply to keep the brain intact when I plummet to my watermelon death. Wouldn't want the tourists to see what's in there!

Today, I can honestly and proudly say I am not the same. I have faith that pushes beyond the boundaries of a safety net. I have trust that even in fear, I can overcome it. I have the courage to push my body to the breaking point, and go a little further. I have bruises that I am comfortable with. I will move slowly, but with the confidence that says "I will do it again, and again, and then some more!" 

I believe that it is possible, and I believe I can do anything I choose, no matter how messy or scary or hard. 

I have faith, not only in myself, but in the experiences and journeys that lie ahead. For I am the creator of my own possibilities. Yet those possibilities are beyond my control, all I need do is step off the platform.