Mustering the Courage to Leap into the Unknown

I’ve been on the edge of a scaryexciting decision lately.
 
(Don’t worry: once I know for sure what’s going on, I’ll let you know!)
 
But it’s been leaving me in a space of simultaneous terror and excitement, as I vacillate between this opportunity being too good to be true and feeling like I’m truly in the right place at the right time.
 

It’s a heck of a spot to be dwelling in right about now.

 
I’m guessing I’m not the only person out there sitting in such a spot, either. If you’re there, too, what do you think: do we take the leap into the unknown, or do we stay where we are? Do we take the risk, or do we play it safe. Do we go big, or go home?
 
The Buddhist in me loves dwelling in this place of possibility. Sitting with myself, exploring what arises around how I feel about what’s happening, what’s emerging. Staying open, breathing, setting aside judgments, and taking another step forward.
 
The control freak in me, on the other hand, doesn’t love it so much. There’s way too much yet to be known, too many things yet to be decided, things that are out of place, emergent and messy. How am I supposed to make a decision when I don’t know exactly what’s going to happen as a result of that decision??
 
(Seriously, when I’m in that state I just want to give myself a heaping cup of chill-the-heck-out, reset, refocus, and remember to breathe.)
 

Ultimately, it comes down to making the right choice. Taking the right action.

 
But what if I choose and it’s not the right choice?
 
What if I act and my understanding was wrong from the start?
 
What if the “right opportunity at the right time” really was simply “too good to be true”?
 
Here’s the thing.
 
We can sit here and “what if” until the cows come home. We can run imaginary scenarios for hours on end, playing out decisions for endless moves into the future, but if we don’t take an action we’ll never really know.
 
And I don’t know about you, but I need to know.
 

So what does it take to take action on a decision?

 
On one level, it takes commitment. Going all in. As an old business coach of mine used to say, “ninety-nine percent’s a bitch; one hundred percent is a cinch.” If you’re going to jump off a cliff and into the water, all of you has to jump. If even your right pinky toe stays behind, instead of making a splash, you’ll end up making a face-plant.
 
Which, in a way, brings me to the second piece:
 
On a more fundamental level, it takes courage. Courage to jump into the water and risk the pain of a belly flop. Courage to jump into the pool and trust that there won’t be rocks just beneath the surface for you to land on. You can do all the research you want about what’s in the water, the optimal time of year to jump into the water, currents for the sections of water you’re considering jumping into, but at some point you have to simply cowgirl up and jump.
 
That’s where I had found myself: standing on the edge of a glorious cliff, getting ready to jump into azure-blue waters. The temperature’s great, I’ve done all my research, everything I can possibly do, I’ve done. Except jump, of course, because the sheer height of that leap scares the living crap out of me.
 

Until now.

 
Somehow, my feet seem to have found their way from the edge of the cliff into the air.
 
And now I find myself in that moments-long yet eternally-long space between the jump and the landing. Scary? Most definitely. Exciting? Heck yes it is!
 
What will the outcome ultimately be? I’ll let you know what I find when I splash down.
 
Until then, what’s the leap you’re being called to take? Take a deep breath and join me on the count of three: one. . . two. . . three!

I cannot wait to see what you draw forth,