Edge Dancing. A phrase I have been using to describe this concept. You start progressing as a human when you are nearing the edge of chaos, or more appropriate named the point of failure. In order to grow, you have to take risk. The stock market has this concept of bulls and bears. They are not opposite concepts, they are both attitudes regarding risk – just in different ways and different times. Growth ALWAYS requires risk. The greater the risk, the greater propensity for growth and consequently failure. The closer you get to this edge (the point of collapse or failure) the greater growth that you will experience, but also the greater the risk that you will expose yourself to.
The delicate art is figuring out just where you want to dance. This is complex because the edge does not stay consistent. What might of been safe yesterday, is now at risk. What was once risky is now completely safe and you will find yourself dull and stagnant. Edge dancing is what we as humans do. It is the compulsion that causes us to do crazy things – like sail off the edge of the known world, climb a mountain that is so high you cannot breath, sit on 400,000 gallons of rocket fuel as you head soaring into earth’s orbit. It is thing that gets to toddler to finally brave letting go of the table and trying those first few steps. Dancing on the edge of what is known and comfortable is absolutely the key to human success. Some existentialists will go so far as to argue, that it is this pressure that caused the development of human consciousness in the first place.
The Chinese concept of dualism explains this in a symbol that we have learned in the Western World to call “ying and yang.” The concept is that there is such a balance between chaos and order, good and bad, male and female that one can easily tip the balance one way or the other. Finding the balance, and carefully navigating them and keeping them in harmony is where peace is found. This is not easy, relaxing, do nothing all day peace – this is calm serenity at the precipice of potential destruction or greatness. Are you holding your grip on the grenade of your destruction while you carefully gauge how far to throw it to remove the obstacle on your path to success? Then you are in the right place.
Dancing on the edge of your potential destruction is never easy. For most of us, it is stressful and we are hoping and hoping for the day when the crisis will be resolved and we can finally relax. Here in lies the fallacy of our thinking. The peaceful time, the enjoyable time is right smack in the middle of the eye of the hurricane. It is that moment where you see something incredibly beautiful, caught in your mind, as the train speeds by at a rapid pace. Dancing on the edge recognizes that you will never be able to capture, relax and enjoy the special moments with your growing children. Rather, it is during the chaos, during the challenging, busy day that the moment of clarity and recognition will occur. This is when bonds are created between people. We do not become friends in times of peace, we become friends while we are going through crisis.
Obviously we cannot dance so closely to the edge that we slip and cause our own destruction or take people with us. Instead, we have to find the point of enough risk to allow us to grow, yet not so much that we are in danger of completely fall apart. This is what I mean by edge dancing. The point is that many of us (including me) will spend a lot of energy and effort trying to get myself far, far away from the edge of chaos. I feel like I am succeeding when I am in the total comfort zone. This is not good thinking, as I have discovered. I need to be pushing toward the edge, just enough to start improving. Risk is absolutely required for personal growth. You cannot get around that fact.
So get uncomfortable. Challenge yourself to do something slightly impossible. Do what you do not want to do. Do what people think you cannot do. Pick something that you probably will fail at, and do it anyway. Dance on the Edge of Chaos and relish in how it feels to truly grow for once in your life!
Guy Reams
4 Days Left to 1st Marathon – Sponsor Me – @ 64% of My St. Jude Fundraising Goal!
