Staircase to Success

A Leap of Faith... that's what most people use as a definition for the most terrifying decision of your life; one that could be a huge payout or a disastrous mistake. This decision could make the difference between chaos or success.

As I found myself at this decision in my life, I tried to picture what my leap of faith would actually look like if I were physically there. A dark pit, that's where I'd find myself, seemingly bottomless as I stand hopelessly on the edge of what could quite possibly be suicide.

No... to me success is nothing like a leap of faith, at least not in my situation. Its hard to picture anything good coming out of leaping blind into an endless hole with no destination in sight. What sort of message does that send?

Metaphorically, I imagine it to be more like a staircase and I'm standing at the bottom looking up. In fact, its nearly exhausting to try and view myself at the top. That is how I could see my risky choice laid out in front of me.

As I reached this epiphany, other questions began to surface. If success is a staircase, what if one of the floor boards are loose? What if I trip and fall? What if I don't have the strength to climb all those stairs?

In the end the questions came down to, what if I fail? I would have to climb all the way back down those stairs to where I started, nursing my injuries, left to sit in anger and frustration about all the time I had wasted even attempting it in the first place. That time could cost me my relationship or my job... I could end up in an even worse position than I had started.

Failing was not an option so why even begin climbing those stairs in the first place? Stay with your comfortable lifestyle of safety away from the unknown. It's what you've spent all your life doing anyways.

So I did. I sat there at the bottom of those stairs, looking up at success with frustrated tears in my eyes until my mother came along and answered my questions.

What if one of the floor boards are loose? You nail it back down.

What if I trip and fall? You stand back up.

What if I don't have the strength to climb all those stairs? You rest until you've caught your breath.

What if I fail? You try again.

Time to climb those stairs.