WALKING THE LINE OF EXHILARATION

There’s a simple formula to walking this line that I will share with you. It contains two elements. The first is excitement and the second is terror. The hard part is both elements need to be equally balanced. There’s a fine line between excitement and terror, and that’s the line to walk to experience exhilaration.

Remember a time you heard someone describe an experience as exhilarating? Was there excitement present? Did you sense that there they were unsure of the outcome, and perhaps pushed the threshold into the unknown? This person crossed that thin line between excitement and terror. They most likely dipped from one side to the other, unable to decide which side was better or which side would overcome the other. The real talent is balancing on that thin line like a tightrope.

You see, if you stay on the side of excitement your having fun, nice and safe. The opposite side, the terrifying side, is not the safe place and feels like it’s venturing on dangerous. The safe side, the side of excitement, means we are not challenged, we know where were going, we know the outcome, and can be predictable because we’ve been there before. Cross to the side of terror, we will be pushed beyond what we think we can handle, we don’t know what the outcome will be, and can’t predict what will happen because it’s a new experience. So, one element is comforting and the other is without comfort. But right down the middle of this combination with equal force on both sides is the narrow edge you aim to balance on. You may not be able to tell from one moment or even one second to the next which side is winning. Be sure you will understand from the way you feel afterwards.

Ask yourself this. Did you grow? Did you build confidence? Would you do it again? Do you feel empowered? Does asking less of yourself after, feel like you’re selling yourself short? Are you changed? Would you be disappointed if you didn’t live up to the next challenge?

You may think that I’m describing an adrenaline junky, but this can be any type of experience. It’s the concept of getting comfortable with being uncomfortable so that being comfortable is uncomfortable. It’s living up to our potential. And never settling for anything less once you’ve walked the line of exhilaration.