Leap.

Leap over the unknown. Approach an unfamiliar pass, a seemingly treacherous waterway, a deep ravine, an unfamiliar opportunity, a chance to help or make a difference...

Have you ever been hiking with a group of people and come across a place where you might need to leap to keep moving forward? You might have come across a deep stream, maybe a crevice or ravine. The temptation is to say let's keep looking for another way. People fan out, looking for another trail, another route, another way forward. You search for trails of others who have traveled this way, trying to pick up on the next best way to go.

All of a sudden, someone shouts, "Hey, we can cross here!"

There's a narrow part of the pass. It looks dangerous, but it seems possible to leap across. Maybe its a string of rocks across the river, making it possible to leap from one to the next and safely make it to the other side.

Someone has to go first, who will it be? Will it be you? Who is going to show the others that it is possible?

The first person to cross is looking into the void with fear and uncertainty. Will they make it? Is this even possible? Maybe they should just turn back, we can find another way.

Despite their fear, they have the courage to step forward, the courage to be present and set their intention despite the overwhelming feeling to give up and wait for someone else to decide what we should do. Courage requires the presence of fear.

That first person finally decides to go for it. They leap, for a moment the universe pauses in a timeless moment of wonder and anticipation, and then they land safely. A few people cheer, but others are already crossing. They know it can be done. This is the way.

The journey that you are on is going to put you in moments in your life where your best choice might be to leap. You are going to encounter problems, obstacles, and hindrances along the way and you will be tempted to turn back, to turn from the fear and uncertainty. You'll be tempted to hide, to let others deal with it, this problem is too big, too complicated for you.

Your best choice might be to leap, which demands that you can be present with the fear. The Inner Work can train you to work with fear, but the fear never goes away when doing the Outer Work, we are always going to be tempted to wait for others to go first. We will always have the impulse to hide, to turn back, to give up.

The Outer Work is the work of courage, of heart, of working with fear and uncertainty and doubt. It is the work of daring to be present, to show up, to be kind and generous. It is the work of lending a hand, opening a door, charting a course, leaping.

It is work because it is not easy, and yet we do it because we care.