The film, Man on Wire, documents Philippe Petit’s high-wire walk between the Twin Towers in New York City on the morning of August 7, 1974. On that morning a solitary man reached beyond his limits to achieve what he had defined as “impossible.” As he planned his adventure, he said: “It’s impossible, sure. So let’s start working on it..... If you want something, nothing is impossible.”

His words revealed how he had chosen to live his life – one filled with purpose and excitement; one during which he would continually push his limits to find everything within himself. That morning, as he took his first steps onto the wire, the people nearby noticed a certain trepidation and uncertainty in his demeanor. His steps were cautious. The intensity of his focus could be seen in his eyes and the cautiousness of his steps.

Then, as if a magic wand had been waived, there was a sudden change as tranquility filled his expression. He had gone deep within himself and found a serenity and peace, that beautiful moment when he knew with absolute certainty that he could and would be magnificent that day, that he would accomplish his goal. Now nothing would hold him back as he performed.

Of his experience Petit later said: “Life should be lived on the edge of life. You have to exercise rebellion: to refuse to tape yourself to rules, to refuse your own success, to refuse to repeat yourself, to see every day, every year, every idea as a true challenge - and then you are going to live your life on a tightrope.”

Contrast Petit with that other tightrope walker, Karl Wallenda, a professional for many years who fell to his death in downtown San Juan, Puerto Rico in 1978. You will remember that Mrs. Wallenda recalled “All Karl thought about for 3 months prior to it... was falling. It was the first time he’d ever thought about it, and it seemed to me that he put all his energies into not falling rather than walking the tightrope.”

Here lies an incredible difference; one man plans to make his dream happen, while another man focuses on what might go wrong... and it did. Will we live out our dreams or live out our fears? The choice is ours.

Ryan Walter
MA Leadership/Business
NHL Player and Coach
604 996 4446

</br>Thought to ponder:

"A person can succeed at almost anything for which they have unlimited enthusiasm."
Charles M. Schwab