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Leaping into the New Year

A recent New York Times article told the stories of four people who were starting the new year with big-leap changes in their lives. One was a woman whose leg had been mangled in a car accident two years ago. After two years bedridden and 16 unsuccessful surgeries, she finally decided in December to have the leg amputated so she could begin a new life that was at least moving forward—even if it wasn’t in the direction she’d initially hoped.
Another was a couple who’d decided to take the leap and live together. A third was a 19-year-old convicted of a minor robbery who was trying to turn his life around after getting parole—and learning that he was about to become a father. The fourth was a former Citigroup employee who took a buyout and was now training, at the age of 41, to become an emergency medical technician.
I can’t even imagine the mental and emotional process that leads to the conclusion that you want your leg amputated. But for me, the article underscored that despite the popularity of Rick Smith’s book The Leap, which offers the soothing notion that there’s really not so much risk or scariness in making “the leap” to a new life path or profession—the truth is that change often involves, at some point, making a dramatic departure from the past.
In fact, as Alan Deutschman discovered in researching his “Change or Die” article and book, dramatic changes are the ones that have the highest probability of success (something we’ve written about before on this site).
None of the individuals in the Times article knows how the changes are going to work out. The couple might end up breaking up. The woman might end up regretting her lost leg. The new EMT trainee might not love his new profession as much as he thinks he will. And the paroled new father might not find a better path than the one he was on. That’s the way of all adventures. You never know how they’re going to turn out. Which is, of course, why they’re so hard to commit to in the first place.
But what also struck me about the people profiled in the story was how positive, energetic, and hopeful they all felt about the unknown territory that lay ahead. For all the upheaval involved, the leap from the past had opened up a whole new set of possibilities. Which is, of course, the reward for leaving all the comfort that any existing circumstance offers.
We fear the leap, because we’re not sure it’ll work out. But sometimes, we don’t even realize how much the baggage of our current circumstances weighs on us until we cut the ties that hold us to it. Possibility, I think, is lighter than air. Maybe that’s why people who find the courage to make a big leap suddenly seem more capable of flight. 
Stories worth reading, and food for thought.
 
Lane Wallace is the Editor and Founder of No Map. No Guide. No Limits.
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{ 1 comment… add one }
  • RickSmithAuthor January 21, 2010, 6:36 am

    Great take. Thanks for the mention!
    Rick Smith
    The Leap

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