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Leap?And The Net Will Appear
Author: Sibyl McLendon
In 1994, my life hit rock bottom. My husband was addicted to crack cocaine, my 17 year-old son had just gotten his 15 year-old girlfriend pregnant, we were about to get evicted from our home, I contracted a life-threatening illness with no health insurance and my Mother died very suddenly, and as her only child, the responsibility of this fell solely on me. My emotional hole was so deep, I could not even imagine the light at the end of the tunnel, let alone see it.
Two years later, my husband was free of addiction, I was running a business that was quite successful, I was healthy and had a beautiful Grandson that I loved deeply. Today, my husband is still drug free, my business has evolved to the point that we can work at home, my Grandson is still (and always will be) the light of my life, and I can honestly say that life is good.
It was a difficult path back into the light. Certainly, my life is far from trouble free now. But I learned one invaluable lesson during the dark time that keeps me from falling back into the abyss, no matter what the Universe throws at me today: faith. And really, faith in “what? is not the issue. It is simply faith in something. It could be faith in the Creator, angels, the Universe, yourself, electricity, or even a rock. It really doesn’t matter. It is the act of having faith that makes the difference. Someone once told me that even an atheist has faith that when he flips the wall switch, the light will come on.
Along the way, I saw a Zen saying, “Leap?and the net will appear.? It became my battle cry, my philosophy of life. Take a chance, give something a try, at least you are doing something. It is one step towards taking control of your life. Find a goal, even a little one, and then do one thing towards reaching it. It may be scary, but a little fear gets the adrenaline pumping. The rewards can be immense. Your self-esteem will benefit greatly. If you succeed, even in a small way, you can say, “Look what I did!? Believe me, it feels great.
Having faith means that you are able to take a chance on something. Taking chances, even small ones, leads to opportunity. Even if you take a chance on something and it fails, you have learned something through the experience. I know one thing for sure, if you stay in your house, waiting for something to happen in your life, you will die in your house, waiting for something to happen. You do not have to take a leap of faith, just take one step in faith, in the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., “Take the first step in faith. You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.? I am reminded here of a scene from a movie. Towards the end of the third Indiana Jones movie (Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom), Indiana must cross an abyss to reach the Holy Grail. There appears to be no bridge, no way across, only a long fall to certain death. He takes the step anyway, and a bridge just appears out of nowhere. He took the step in faith that he would not ! fall. That is exactly what I am talking about here. We all have the ability to look inside of ourselves and find our faith in something or someone. Find it, and take that chance, the reward will outweigh the cost.
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?2000 Sibyl McLendon Sibyl is 1/2 Navajo, and is a Medicine person and an ordained Minister. She has a once-a-week newsletter called MousePages (http://mousepages.50g.com), and a self-help site, Spirit Mouse (www.spiritmouse.com) for motivational, uplifting information and resources for your personal growth.
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