Stepping into the Abyss

Quote by Edward Teller

On various occasions in our lives, we find ourselves at the edge of an abyss. Going forward forces us to step into the unknown. Going back is simply not a choice. There is no back.

We arrive at this edge from a variety of paths. Death, anger, divorce, loss, illness, or a wide swath of other possibilities, all of them carrying moments of pain and passages of darkness. Not simply the darkness of a room when the light is turned off or a moonless night or when we throw the covers over our heads. It's the darkness of the deepest jungle at night, the water a mile under the surface, an unlit cave in heart of the earth. A dark we can't comprehend until we are in it.

At this point, with wide blind eyes, we feel our way forward, hear the pebble skitter over the edge and wait to hear it touch ground. It never does. That's the darkness of the abyss. We know it when we hear it or feel it or sense it. Our intuition does not err. So what do we do? Is there a safe way forward? That depends on the definition of safe. Going forward is the only option. So we stand at the edge of the unknown and take one more step.

Where will this next step take you? How far have you come to get here? What lies behind you? What do you feel? hear? sense? Where are you headed?