Remove The Safety Restraints

In The Dark Knight Rises, there is an epic scene where Bruce Wayne completes an impossible jump to escape an underground prison–one he’s failed multiple times before. Prior to Bruce Wayne, there had only been one other person to complete the jump, a child, despite multiple attempts by other prisoners.

In each of his failed attempts, Bruce leaped with a rope attached to his waist to prevent him from falling to his death should he not make it across to the other side. Thankfully, he had the safety rope because it kept him alive, but it was also the same mistake those who failed before him made as well.

While the rope kept Bruce alive, it also prevented him from successfully making it to the other side and escaping the prison. 

In his final attempt, because he’d either make the leap or fall to his death, Bruce ditched the rope and fully committed to the jump. While the scene is epic, it is also a bit anticlimactic because Bruce has to make it out of the prison to defeat Bane and save the day as Batman, but it carries an important message.

Sometimes, the things and people we keep in our lives because they are “safe” actually hold us back from pursuing our authentic life:

• Salaries

• Benefits

• “Safety” of a corporate career

• Childhood friends

• Avoiding change

I’m not suggesting you immediately ditch the safety restraints in your life, but if they continue to hold you back from pursuing your authentic life, you should begin to develop a plan for how you can become less reliant on them so that eventually, you can ditch your rope(s) like Bruce Wayne.

It might go against what we’re taught and what feels right, but sometimes, the only way to step into your authentic life is to fully commit to it and leap–trusting that you are going to make it to the other side because you have no other option.

See you tomorrow and keep pursuing,

JC