A prayer and a parachute hoping to tame the laws of gravity and return him safely to the Earth below.

I watched in awe when Felix Baumgartner gave a wave with his right hand, stood up, and stepped off his capsule 24 miles above New Mexico. I watched the footage of his jump several times, more amazed with every viewing.

During one playback I paused the footage a few seconds before Felix began his jump. The camera angle was directly above Felix, offering an encompassing view of him standing outside the capsule with the Earth below. Looking down, Felix could see his world right in front of him. His vision was clear and his mission well defined. With one step he was on his way.

With the image still frozen on the screen, I imaged it was me sitting up there contemplating the next steps in my own life, the vastness of possibilities right in front of me. In my own life I’ve stood on the threshold of my own greatness several times. At times I’ve stood up like Felix and jumped confidently into my future. In other moments, I remained seated, overwhelmed with what was in front of me because of what was inside of me.

NOISES IN THE SILENCE Many great opportunities clearly in my view simply passed me by because the voices inside of me told me who I was simply wasn’t good enough and reassured me that it probably wouldn’t work out anyway. The voices inside of me presented just enough doubt, convincing me the best step to take was no step at all.

When life presents you with opportunities, what voices do you hear? Are you able to embrace what’s in front of you or are you paralyzed by the voices inside of you?

Most of us won’t have a global audience in the millions wondering if we are willing to jump into what’s in front of us. Our own great leaps are silently ours alone. But it’s what we say to ourselves in the silence before the jump which determines if we even jump at all.

What are you standing in front of in this moment?

Perhaps it is a decision to simply smile again, to forgive yourself, to love again, to get back up and try again.

Whatever it is, the question remains. What’s holding you back?

THE EMPOWERED VOICE In front of all of us is a world of our greatest possibilities. But our hopes and dreams will always remain hopes and dreams unless we bring them to life. The emptiness of regret has taught me first hand we are always the ones who hold us back. Fear, doubt, and questions of worthiness fuel a familiar voice we’ve come to trust. After all, this voice is our own. Why would we ever lie to ourselves?

My ability to jump into my own life coincided with my decision to listen to a different voice. This is the voice which reminded me of my own divinity and worthiness. The voice of Truth. The voice of love.

The voice of God.

We all have our own vision for our own lives, of where we want to be, of who we want to be. Some want to change the world. Some just want to change themselves. But the process is always the same. It starts with allowing yourself to see the God within you.

We are all worthy of our greatest possibility. Our dreams are God’s vision for us, our unique collection of talents, gifts, and abilities the tools we’ll need to turn dreams into realities. We weren’t created to simply stand on the threshold of our own greatness. Our purpose is our greatness, to bring to life all that we were created to become, and it’s all right in front of us.

It’s amazing where you can go in life when you see yourself through the eyes of God.

It’s a great day to be you!