If Our Hearts Were Never Broken

“If our hearts were never broken, the world would be flat.” — Unknown

I really like this quote, it adds something meaningful to the idea of brokenness. And to the extent that I have felt brokenness over the past few years, it's nice to think that it wasn't for naught but for the building up of interesting geology in life. The question is how does one climb the newly formed mountains when they appear? Perhaps the pain was necessary to place those beautiful summits into view, but that same pain makes me fearful of trying to hike up them. There is a destination I should like to reach, but up is the only way to get there. At times, a flat world doesn't sound so bad.

That's not to say that's what I want. The reward, I suspect, it much greater this way. But what if I should fail? How do I know I even should leave base camp? I feel like I have one foot out of the tent and I'm just looking to see if there is ground enough to plant the other foot. It's only a few words that need to be said; the question is if they are said, what will come of them. Are they necessarily succeed or fail completely type words, or is there a middle ground of a soft landing to hope for if they fail? Can one ever reach the top when paralyzed with questions of failure?

Well, no. Eventually it is time to take a leap of faith.