The Edge

“There is a story about a group of people climbing to the top of a mountain.  It turns out it’s pretty steep and as soon as they get to a certain height, a couple of people look down and see how far it is, and they completely freeze; they had come up against their edge and they couldn’t go beyond it.  The fear was so great they couldn’t move.  Other people tripped on ahead, laughing and talking but as the climb got steeper, and more scarey, more people began to get scared and froze.  All the way up this mountain there where places where people met their edge.  The people who made it to the top were happy to do so.

It doesn’t really matter where you meet your edge; just meeting it is the point.  Life is a journey of meeting your edge again and again.  Ask yourself what don’t I see?  Why can’t I go any further than this?  The people who go to the top aren’t the heroes of the day.  It’s just they weren’t afraid of heights; they are going to meet their edge somewhere else.

The ones who froze at the bottom were not losers.  They simply stopped first and so their lesson came earlier than the others.  However, sooner or later everybody meets his or her edge.”

- Pema Chodron

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