Take the leap

Today I launched my website, despite being terrified.

As Meg Cabot puts it, "Courage is not the absence of fear but rather the judgement that something is more important than fear; The brave may not live forever but the cautious do not live at all."

Tomorrow I'm going to visit London for the first time in my life. It's a thing I've dreamed of for ages now and the whole idea still feels unreal. But then I read about the terror attack in Manchester three days ago and the excitement kind of faded. Instead of being excited out of my senses, I became scared.

I have so much to live for. I have dreams, aspirations, goals, wishes, silly bucket lists... I can't die, or every dream would get crushed and every story in my head be forgotten. But it's happening–I'm going to London.

I'm launching this website. I'm finishing my book. I'm exploring the world, learning, laughing and loving every second. I'm taking leaps to fight for life. To fight for the beauty withing ordinary days and magnificent, silent moments of peace in a loud world. 

This blog post isn't about terrorists, luckily. Terrorism is just a common thing we all fear.

Life is short. Terribly short. We can't afford to give our dreams up because of fear. Taking risks is a part of the human experience. We're meant to follow out dreams, and to do that, we have to leap into the scary unknown.

What if you died tomorrow? What would you regret?

What–to you–is more important than fear?

Taking a leap isn't easy. Leaps are not bold, sure steps. They're not careful, quiet ones either. A leap isn't really a step at all. It's more like jumping down a cliff and trusting your wings to grow before you fall to your death.

Trust.

As long as we don't fall for the false beliefs--the insults and lies--we constantly tell ourselves, we will be able to fly. We'll flail, probably scream and even doubt our abilities, but we don't give up. We have the desire, and that gives us the power.

Repeat after me: I have a desire, and that gives me the power.

Trust your capabilities to spread your wings and shoot up into the clouds. Just think of how beautiful it's up there. Your dreams and goals can all be reached. The two magical words here are just trust and courage. That's all you need to take a leap.

This website is one of my biggest leaps. I'm a shy person. I don't like attention. I doubt myself a lot and don't think of myself as an author. I've not even revised my novel yet.

Fake it til you make it, right? Trust yourself.

If you can't see your abilities now, trust that when you work hard and take leaps, you'll find them. Failing does not mean the end. I've "failed" three novels this far (though I don't really like that word). Making mistakes is essential for growth. They're also inevitable.

So even if you may fall, keep jumping. Keep taking leaps with trust and courage, and eventually, you can look back and not regret anything.

Again, "The brave may not live forever but the cautious do not live at all."

We must honor those who don't have the chance to follow their dreams by following ours–by being courageous and trusting that our dreams can make the world a better place.

Love, Em.

Stay safe and don't ever give up. You are worth every piece of happiness you can find.

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