Recently I watched a documentary film about Philippe Petit, who walked a tightrope between the twin towers of the World Trade Center in 1974. And it occurred to me that sometimes our lives feel like a high-wire act. Whether it’s money, the kids, our health or some other pressing issue, we try to maintain our balance on a very thin line. Make it to the other side and we can breathe again. Fall off the wire and who knows what could happen next.

But what if we choose instead to view our high-wire act as the path to our Best Lives?

One of my favorite quotes from Wayne Dyer is, “When you change the way you look at things the things you look at change.”

Consider the wire as the path from where you are to where you want to go with your life. And the pole you carry for balance, your belief in your gifts, talents, and purpose for being in the world. So with a path established and a belief in yourself, you’re now ready to take that first step out onto the wire to begin the journey.

So what’s required for the first step?

Belief: Believe that you have unique gifts, talents and a purpose for being here

Faith: We’re not talking complete faith -  more like mustard seed size faith.

Incremental Courage: Begin with a little bit of courage and watch it grow

Maybe you’re thinking to yourself that Philippe Petit had some sense of fearlessness that enabled him to cross a thin wire from one tower to the other. And you’d be wrong. In the film he talked about his fear of falling. But the vision for his life was bigger than his fear. So he took that first step off the ledge and onto the wire with courage, a belief in his abilities, and faith in himself.

Create a bigger vision for yourself. String a wire from where you are to where you want to go. Believe in yourself and know that you arrived in this world with talents, gifts and a purpose. And have just a little bit of faith and courage. Just enough to get you started.

And watch as your life begins to soar.

Carpe Diem