The Gift of Experience
Ashlee Eiland
I ’ m going to go out on a limb and guess that a skilled high-wire instructor wouldn ’ t put firstday funambulists on a wire over the Grand Canyon . That ’ s because risk oftentimes rides the coattails of experience . The more you experience , the more confidence you ’ ll have to take risks outside your comfort zone .
You probably wouldn ’ t shoot for worldrecord breaking speeds or heights or lengths without having logged exponentially more falls and mediocre feats behind the scenes when no one ’ s watching . Experience happens when you ’ re “ shooting alone in the gym ,” as my husband says . Experience is long hours and late nights , early mornings and restarts . Experience is the sum of persistence and consistency : showing up and showing up and showing up until one day you realize just how much you ’ ve given to that one goal , place , or hobby . This long obedience1 is its own prong of passion , the suffering that ’ s endured without an audience , the kind that ’ s more pronounced because of how alone you can feel .
But little by little , despite the loneliness , despite
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