Stepping out on the Ledge

That phrase, just in its wording, can form different reactions by different people. One may look at that with fear and trepidation. Why would someone step onto a ledge? Its not safe, you could get hurt, only people looking to end their lives early would do that. It's reckless, careless, and stupid.

Someone else on the other hand may look that phrase from a completely different viewpoint. You might read that as stepping into the unknown, a place of possibilities, of risk(not the life threatening kind), of taking a stand for something you believe in, of something to be inspired by, of throwing your fears away and doing something great.

I initially used the title with the intention of talking about the decision I made recently to uproot myself from my comfortable life here in NYC and haul my cookies off to Southern California next month. But when I wrote that title, I thought about how differently we all can take something. We can listen to the same person say the same thing at the same time and walk away with completely different impressions about what we heard.

So why even bother writing about that? I think its one of the most vital concepts to fully grasp. Who is right, who is wrong? Was what I heard good or bad? How should I or shouldn't judge or interpret what I hear? How will I know if I made the right decision about my analysis? When it comes down to it, we never really know the answer to any of these questions....but we think we do and we will do anything we can to make sure we are right about it. I for one have held onto my strong beliefs of the things I thought were right and wrong. And because of that, I have spent a lot of energy defending myself and looking to be 'right' all the time. And if the person I am having a conversation with has a differing point of view, very often an argument would ensue, whether friendly or not. But what if I gave up being right for a while. What if I stopped making everyone wrong, and opened myself up to the idea that there is no right or wrong, just variations of perspective. I started doing this recently, and though its definitely taking work and practice, the results have been notable. I stopped looking at people as adversaries who were either on my side or on the other side. I started listening to other points of view, without the instant judgement behind them. And I started learning more than I have in a long time. And I started connecting with people more so than I ever have before in my life.

I'm still right most of the time of course. I'm a work in progress. So what does stepping out onto the ledge mean to you?

For me, its making a bold move, getting out of my comfort zone, doing something different for the sake of an exciting new, remarkable chapter in my life. I have always lived in the tri-state area. Even my 4 yrs in school were spent upstate. Over the course of this past year, the idea of moving to California has continually entered my thoughts, especially as a couple of my closest friends were heading out that way. And as my triathlon training was increasing, I realized how much I love good weather and how much it effected my overall state of being. And so I started playing with the idea of moving. It started out almost as a joke, then continued to develop as a real possibility. Finally, I decided it was time to do something different in my life. Make a move, a change of scenery, explore a place I've never been. And now, here I am, making my plans to move out West next month. It still seems surreal, and I am definitely a bit nervous about doing something I've never done before, and leaving the comfort of my many friends and family here. But I know it's something I will always be able to look back at throughout my life as a wonderful opporunity I took advantage of when I was younger!