Put Yourself on the Edge and Fly

Grug:  “Fear keeps us alive.  Eep—never not be afraid.”

( Excerpt from The Croods)

As I was watching the said film with my family, there was one particular scene that caught my attention. It was when Guy, one of the major characters started telling his story. As he discussed his ideas regarding “following the light”, he mentioned putting oneself  on the edge and no matter how hard it may be to let go, one had to jump and simply fly.

Letting Go

Letting go is putting your inhibitions aside, and allowing yourself to move on. Letting go may be giving away that stuffed toy that you used to hug ever since you were nine and allowing yourself to sleep courageously in your bed alone. Letting go may be going out of your comfort zone and trying out something new. It may be telling the person that kept you from moving on for years that you are now ready to take on the journey of life without them or it may be telling your crush for years that you like them, after so long. Letting go is the first step to flying. It is that stepping stone that will allow you to step things up, and allow yourself to get a taste of something new, it is that catalyst that will allow you open up to changes, and move forward. It is the hardest of all steps. It takes a lot of courage but more than that, a big part of it is acceptance. Because when you let go, you stop denying and you accept what is there.  You bid goodbye to all the
“what ifs” that keep you from holding back.

Jumping

Jumping then is that big leap of faith. It is the act of detaching yourself from the chains of fears and allowing yourself to get some experience. Jumping has no guarantees. More often than not, we fall instead of flying, but it is in falling that we learn to stand up, bandage the wounds and try once again. Jumping is putting yourself on the edge, and going beyond the edge’s limits. It is taking the chance despite the numerous possible failures that may occur, because you do not want to run out of chances. Because you run out of chances, the minute you stop taking them. Jumping is putting yourself out there, willing to risk it all, even if there is a possibility of rejection, failure, and even embarrassment. It is in jumping that we erase all the negativity, and write all the positive possibilities.

Flying

Flying is allowing yourself to be happy. It is that taste of success after the two most crucial stages namely: letting go and jumping It is in flying that we allow ourselves to fully indulge in something not common to us. It could be something new or it could be something that we longed for so long, but took us every ounce of confidence before we actually got it. Flying on the other hand has no guarantees as well; even the strongest person cannot fly forever, even the strongest one can get tired of flying. Sometimes one has to land in order to launch him or herself again in flight but despite the imperfections of flying, everyone deserves to fly. Everyone deserves to be happy.  No matter how scary the journey of flying may be, it is in flying that we live. It is where we do not simply allow ourselves to not die, but we allow ourselves to live. We allow ourselves to experience, because there is a big difference between not dying and living. It is in flying that we let our fears keep us alive, we let our inhibitions challenge us, and we let our limitations help us become better people.

A whole lot of things may appear to be scary. It may be that dark cabinet at night, or may it be that 50 ft high Ferris wheel that makes your knees shake. It may be falling in love or it may be that math long test that makes you bite all your nails off. Fear will always be out there, but it is in fear that we are given the chance to become bigger and better. Indeed, we may all have a long way to go when it comes to flying, but before we fly, we have to let ourselves fall first, despite the fact that there are no guarantees ;)