Then our true work in the world begins
No one knows what will happen in the next second. It is in the second that life changes forever. We say yes. Or no. A phone call comes. Someone dies. Someone is born. Something precious breaks.
Living on the very edge, the place of unknowing, is a practice. Few people are comfortable in this space. The unknown is so very frightening to many. We plan our days with rigour, ensuring nothing goes bump in the night. But life is about bumps in the night. No amount of planning can prevent the unforeseen.
This is not to dismiss planning and strategy. But if our planning and strategy do not take into consideration the unknown and unforeseen, then we will be required to swallow both the bitter pill of disappointment and the joy of miracles, sometimes in the same breath. And be left to wonder why.
The edge is a place of surrender. We can only show up in our fullness, holding the pure intention of our path, and let the mystery of life unfold.
Masters of living on the edge return inward with each step to the purity of the intention that they carry forward. This is the real work. Deeply engaging with the soul’s intention for expression in our individually unique lives.
When the conversation and connection with our deepest expression is lost to us, then we are lost. No amount of strategy and planning will ease the ache of that loss. It will wake us in the wee hours of the night. It will inhabit our dreams and nightmares. Eventually, it will get our full attention. Often in our last years.
When we enter the real conversation, For what purpose have I been born?” we invite a dialogue with the part of us that has the greatest yearning.
Then our true work in the world begins.
First published July 5th 2013
Photo Taken February 9th 2026. Article published April 7th 2026
