“But may I cure that habit, look up and outwards
And may my feet follow my wider glance
First no doubt to stumble, then to walk with the others
And in the end–with time and luck–to dance.”
Louis MacNeice
I’m not an agile person. I’m not a nimble person. I have been known to trip over my own feet. I broke an ankle once just getting out of bed. My husband tells me I should wear a helmet—all the time, around the house. And my family jokes that I should be wrapped in a layer of bubble wrap.
Maybe this is why I’m fascinated with tightrope walkers—because they can do something so completely out of the realm of possibility for me. Tightrope walkers are my favorite part of the circus. When my brother and I went to a circus as little kids, I decided I was going to be a tightrope walker when I grew up. I checked out a book from the library about circuses and was devastated when I read that most circus performers grow up in circus families—there’s not a lot of demand for freelance tightrope walkers in the circus. When I told my brother my secret dream, he laughed and said, “Dude. You can’t even walk without falling down.” I wanted to smack him then, but now—well, I know truer words were never spoken. God did not create me to be a tightrope walker.
But the fascination remains. I loved watching Nik Wallenda walk across Niagara Falls. I’ve watched countless YouTube videos of tightrope walkers. I love the costumes, the danger, the crowd gasping when there’s a wobble and a near slip. One day, when I was watching one of these videos, I saw a link to an article about how to learn to walk on a tightrope. (don’t worry; I have no intention of actually trying this) The article suggested building a slackline just a foot or two off the ground and learning on that before progressing to a higher tightrope.
One of the tips in the article is this: “Focus intently on a single point, such as the anchor. This will help you find and keep your balance. Resist the temptation to look straight down at your feet on the line. Looking down at the wobbling line will simply make you wobble as well. Look ahead instead of down at the line.”
“Look ahead instead of down.” I love that. I have a tattoo on my wrist that says, “Look up.” I need this reminder from God all the time—“Look up, Renee. Focus on where I’m leading YOU—not other people. Don’t look back. Don’t look down. Keep your eyes on me for every single step.” It’s hard—but taking my eyes off of Him causes me to wobble, lose my balance, and fall. Every time. It’s especially hard when I start to feel like I’m IN a circus, on that tightrope—when I have no control over the chaos and the people around me. When life hurts. When my heart breaks.
And yet—and yet—this is when I hear it most clearly: “Eyes on Me, Renee. Only Me. We’re going to do this together—step by step. Look up, and focus on Me.” Life is so much easier when I focus only on the One who made me, the One who knows where He’s taking me—the One who loves me completely.
The article on building a slackline promises that once you master the basics, you can experiment with new tricks—you can learn to do yoga on the slackline. You can juggle. You can hula hoop. You can even do cartwheels and back flips! I could work with a slackline day in and day out for the rest of my life, and I would never be able to walk on it, let alone do cartwheels. But I know that if I keep my eyes on my God, He’s going to take me places beyond anything I ever could have imagined. And mentally—I’ll be doing cartwheels of gratitude.
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Comments 13
Thanks for your informative article
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Love it for sure– I too trip easily these days from when I was ill and often look down for uneven stones so I don’t trip–one badly broken wrist was enough when I fell backwards! Looking up is not always easy but so worthwhile, one sees so much more if we dare. Thanks for sharing– the song is beautiful and so is your writing.
Klara, thank you for these words. You are such an encouragement to me–truly! God bless you.
I wonder if you have an “in” with my heart. Once again you’ve spoken directly to me and pointed me in the right direction!
Lora, I’m grateful that the words that I write to encourage myself encourage you, as well. Thank you for all of your support.
Love!
Thank you, Sharon. That means so much to me!
Love this! It had me laughing and thinking deeply at the same time. I often find myself looking down, side-to-side, wondering if the line will break out from underneath me. I will remember what you wrote here, and learn to focus more on the anchor — Him!
Thank you, my Monty. Your support means the world to me.
You always make me feel so many different emotions when I read what you write…I laugh and then I cry and then I have hope. Thanks for sharing so much of you!
Lisa, thank you so very much. Thank you for giving ME hope and encouragement this morning!