Step Into The Breach:

In traditional definitions, “To Step into the Breach” means to take the place of someone who is suddenly unable to do a job or task. In military terms a breach is a gap in fortifications made by enemy guns or explosives. Or to stand in the breach is to bear the brunt of an attack when other defenses or expedients have failed.

I want to offer you another definition of stepping into the breach. Imagine be loaded into a chamber of a rifle like a rifle cartridge. Then to be fired into space without knowing what your final destination will be. Will you smack a concrete wall, or maybe launched into space and arrive in a pristine forest? The possibilities are endless depending on the trajectory chosen by those who fire you into space.

You see, your trajectory is dependent on who pulls the trigger. Who guides this bullet called you? For the most part we are guided by our parents, friends, popular trends, alcohol or drugs, until we reach the point of truly independent thought. We learn or not, depending on the individual, some grow and some wither on the vine. Some hit that concrete wall and are destroyed, a few find that pristine forest. Some find another path by being deflected or ricocheting off a hard object in their path.

The path in your life should not to be chosen by others. Your path is determined by the culmination of your life experiences and fueled by hope. Do you choose the easy path others have planned for you, or do you hear the beat of a different drummer in your head?

In life you come to many forks in the trail ahead of you. Do you go to the right, and take the safe path or to the left…unknown and risky path? You must choose between what is safe even though it’s not what you really want. Or do you take the unknown path that may be full of danger and hardship?

You might fail, or you might find what was meant for you. No endeavor into the unknown is without risk, for with risk comes the possibility of a huge reward. And that reward is to find out who you really are.

Sleddogs don’t think about these things. They do what they do because they are Intune with themselves. They know what they are, and they follow their hearts with the love of the run, the adventure, and do not ever consider the dangers in front of them, because that would stop them from chasing their dreams.

Boldly they will chase that dream bred into them. For they cannot do anything else, it is what they are. They are not encumbered by doubt, or fear, or higher intelligence that questions every possibility. They are sleddogs and that is what they do.

The most important lesson in life I’ve learned from these simple creatures is to be true to yourself. Regardless of friends, popular opinion, and even family…you will never be happy unless you follow your own heart. Follow your own dreams regardless of what anyone else says. There is only one person living your life and that is you.

Whether your love be cooking, truck driving, brain surgery, quilting, sports, or any other thing that moves you. Take that risk, be who you were meant to be in your own heart. For without that you will never achieve your true purpose in life. You will always feel that you missed out on something and blame others for it. And in fact, the blame will be on you, because you settled for something less than what you truly wanted.

Unlike sleddogs, humans can control their own destiny. Step into the breach… your trajectory in this life is yours, and yours alone to decide.

Aim high, for that is where happiness lies. It lies in doing what you were meant to do. Not in relying on someone else to bestow you with what you dream about. For that only leads to unfulfilled expectations and blame.

Strength lies in being able to provide for yourself, your dreams are yours to fulfill, and no one else is responsible for that but you.

Step Into the breach, dare to be great, dare to be who you are inside. For that is where self-confidence and happiness in life is found.

It resides in your very own heart.