The danger lies in the instant before you take the leap.

Need I say more?

OK. I must. Can’t not. This is too beautiful, too true, too poignant, too rich for me to leave it alone. (I get it: if it’s all of those adjectives, I should just leave it to it’s beautiful self. Sorry. I can’t.)

The danger lies in the instant before you take the leap.

Is it danger? It feels like it, doesn’t it? Anytime we leap into the unknown – no matter the context – we feel the risk, the anxiety, the fear. And sometimes that prevents us from taking the leap at all. True: that’s not always a bad decision. Sometimes the risk outweighs the benefits. We seek the counsel of others, we trust our intuition, we think through the pros and cons. And we step back from the edge. It’s the right decision…hopefully. We’ll never know for sure.

Look before you leap. (Proverb)

When you’re young, your whole life is about the pursuit of fun. Then, you grow up and learn to be cautious. You could break a bone or a heart. You look before you leap and sometimes you don’t leap at all because there’s not always someone there to catch you. And in life, there’s no safety net. When did it stop being fun and start being scary? (from Sex and the City)

The danger lies in the instant before you take the leap.

But oftentimes we need to make the leap. We seek the counsel of others, we trust our intuition, we think through the pros and cons. And then we jump. We anticipated the free fall, the experience of dropping far too fast with no way to know when or how we’ll land. It’s as scary or maybe even worse than we thought. If you’re anything like me, you keep your eyes closed on the rollercoaster – knowing that eventually it will come to a stop. And eventually it does. We land. Sometimes with some bumps and bruises, but with the exhilaration still lingering. We get up on our feet and take a look around. It’s a new landscape, a new vista, a new opportunity, a new day; realities we wouldn’t have ever seen or experienced from the ledge above. It’s was the right decision. Now we know for sure.

How are we to know when to stay put and not leap? How are we to know if we should just jump? There’s no magic formula. But I’m a firm believer in my gut – that highly technical term for my deepest heart, the voice inside me that says “you know what to do, Ronna. You can trust yourself.”

The danger lies in the instant before you take the leap.

And once we leap? The danger is behind us (at least for a time…until it’s time to leap again) and we can step boldly and with much anticipation into all that lies ahead.

So…what’s the leap you’ve yet to make? And are you feelin’ the danger? You’re close then. Take another couple steps…one more…just a bit farther now…

The danger lies in the instant before you take the leap.

It’s worth the risk. I promise.

All growth is a leap in the dark, a spontaneous, unpremeditated act without benefit of experience. (Henry Miller)

I advise you to say your dream is possible and then overcome all inconveniences, ignore all the hassles and take a running leap through the hoop, even if it is in flames. (Les Brown)

When in doubt, make a fool of yourself. There is a microscopically thin line between being brilliantly creative and acting like the most gigantic idiot on earth. So what the hell, leap.” (Cynthia Heimel)

The danger lies in the instant before you take the leap.

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