Much of what we hear is just a shadowy echo of our mind, limiting us within the walls of our own fear and keeping us chained to the reminders of security we’ve created along the way. So secure we believe we are, with heavy chains binding us to the illusion of solid ground, that we never quite break the radius of deceit we’ve limited ourselves to. We never get to experience the fullness of this life as we have relegated ourselves to tawdry visions of life that fail the meaning of our purpose, and leave us struggling for one last breath at the end of a life hardly lived. That one last breath will not come even as the regrets pour in. Both are sure to fade in the finality of what is, what was, and what could have been.

Why limit ourselves to safety? Rather, life is lived in the rush of excitement that chances we take provide. Push the pace, ride the wave, and dispel the notion that you were meant to be limited in your repose. Stand tall knowing you are a life to be lived, a moment to be equally cherished in the glow of sunshine and the emptiness of darkness. You are, completely, in the right place at the right time regardless of how frightening your surroundings are. Embrace the moment, for there is not a balloon that expands resting on its laurels. Be brave, even in your uncertainty, knowing that you are never alone even in your darkest hours.

We all have a choice to either cower in the face of our life or growl in intense response. We are all presented with opportunities to show the Universe who we are. There has never been a lion who hasn’t first sulked in his own cowardice, but yet he rises in his own experience to live a life of majesty. Surely in his brash youth he stumbles, but in the wisdom of his experience he expands and, thus, rises. His survival depends on it, and the lion always fulfills his destiny.

We are faced with a similar choice but because we are led to believe our survival often depends on a lack of boldness, that the pain of limiting life is somehow less than the pain of jumping into the ether, we often fail to live in order to be alive. We often survive at the expense of a vigorous life where anything, and everything, is possible. We may live longer, yet we often fail to have really lived at all.

I seek life. I seek the rush of energy I feel when I take a chance. I seek the growl that involuntarily rolls from my chest in the face of challenge. I seek the scars, the wounds, the triumphs and the wisdom that comes with trying, failing, trying again, and making it happen.