Expectation

When one goes outside of the box, beyond the limits, exceeds whatever expectation may have been placed before them to be met, that is when a higher bar is set. Cliche as that phrase may be, the bar is set, it regardless encompasses the meaning of the phrase. Suddenly, failure becomes laughable, and there is all hell to pay for falling short of the newly established benchmark.

What if those boundaries weren't there? What if those minimums weren't expected any longer and failure didn't exist? How much freedom does that give the human race, to do as it will? It brings back the age-old question pondered by children and adults:

What would you do if you knew you could not fail?

So what would you do? Would you take the leap? Say hello? Walk away? Try again? Learn something new? Dance? Sing? Laugh? Cry? Would you make a beginning or an end? Which path would you choose, of the infinite ones no longer barred by the intimidating spider-webs of failure? How far would you take your dreams? Would you walk before the world with all the truths of your soul bared wide?

The possibilities would be endless. The opportunities that one could take from such a world have no limits and transcend all bounds. The fear of failure ties us back and stops us from finding what we may. We fear the judgment of the world, the stinging burn that we may feel from not making it over that bar and falling flat on our faces. What joy we could all find in a world where there was no longer a bar, where all were free to jump and spin as they would, without the fear of being ridiculed.

The best part of it all? The best part is that this is the world we live in. The beauty of a finite life is that once it's over, it's really over. In reality, there are no expectations we must meet, our failures are judged only by ourselves. No person but ourselves can determine when we fail. The world is ours for the taking and here we stand, afraid to charge through the spider-webs and find what we may. We don't know what lies ahead, but that is no reason to fear it.

Everything that we may find will not matter in the end. So what harm is there, then, in taking the risks we may to possibly see something interesting, discover something new? The things that people most often regret are not those that they did, but those they didn't do. Why must this fear of a self-imposed failure limit us to where we are right now? We are the only people stopping ourselves from getting as much out of this life as we can.

What are you waiting for? Nothing is going to miraculously fall out of the air to tell you to go for it. You have to tell yourself. We don't have forever...might as well make the most of it while we can.