if billy jumped off a cliff, would you, too?

{background music }

they say one of the hardest things in life is when you come to a fork in the road and you don't know which path to take.

i believe,
there are harder things.
like...

when you're wandering a nice path alone and you come to a cliff.
you can see over the cliff {kind of} so you know what is down there
and you have fresh footprints on the path behind you, ready to be retraced.

at least with a fork in the road you can follow it back and take the other path.
here, billy ain't there to lead the way.
you're alone.

you know if you turn around you will be able to look at everything you've already seen for a second time,
an opportunity we don't get often.
you'll be able to collect the flowers you wished you could have picked on your way.

you know that if you jump you will fall into whatever is ready to catch you.

what if you jump and meet a family of jagged rocks below?
what if you jump and there's no way to get back up the cliff and you're lost at sea?

what if you turn around towards the flowers and lose your way? what if you can never find the cliff again?
what if the path becomes too familiar on the way back and you begin to wish you had jumped?

so... do you jump?

do you turn around?

what is really the safest thing to do?

you would think first...
not to jump because of what may be waiting for you below. it could be bad.
turning on your heels would be the safest thing.

then you think...
what if below is a tribe of natives ready to make you their queen?
what if below is a town made entirely of marshmallows and prince charmings?
what if below is what is next?

once your feet leave the edge you've reached a decision
and either way you're saying goodbye.

you've stepped on rocks along the way.
you've gotten lost.
your dress has been caught on branches and torn.
but it's familiar.
maybe you missed something on the way... maybe there's more back there that you need to see.

maybe you're done with twigs and branches and sand beneath your feet.
maybe it's time to swim.
maybe you'll get lost and your dress will tear on rocks
but maybe
it's what's next.

the amount of time we spend on that perimeter doesn't matter once we've left it.
you could spend hours    days    weeks     years.
but your life isn't going to start until you're off that cliff.
the path has ended. there's the cliff. right there.

saying goodbye was never easy
and it's harder when you won't know what you're saying goodbye to until you've gone.
but only when you leave will you be able to wave hello
to anything.

{photo via papertissue}