June 30, 1859…check that date! A little before any of us could ever read or write a Post, huh?
June 30, 1859 was the day that Charles Blondin tight-roped himself across Niagara Falls. He crossed it about five times, way before Nik Walenda did back on June 16, 2012 WITH A SAFETY TETHER!
Blondin said, “To cross the roaring waters became the ambition of my life.”
Now crossing the Falls, Safety Tether or not is a feat. Blondin made it seem simple..he just didn’t cross it, uhhh, NO! He owned it. He crossed it once, NORMAL. Once on a bike. Another time on stilts. He crossed it pushing a stove in a wheelbarrow and actually cooked an omelet and then, are you ready for this, he crossed it with a man on his shoulders! When asking the crowd who would take on such a dare, only one was heard to volunteer. Harry Colcord, Blondin’s manager took the ride.
Absolutely amazing.
If we were living and in the surrounding area, I have to believe we would have been there with each feat Mr. Blondin performed, if for no other reason just in the chance he would have fallen to his death as we “Ohhhhhh” and “Ahhhhhhed” with his each step and challenging feats.
Question:
As we would have stood on either side of the Falls, cheering, jeering and omelet, er, egging him on, would you have ever been tempted to get in the wheelbarrow and be pushed across by him?
Seriously what would have gotten you into the barrel? Fame? Money? Death Wish? Ambition? Notoriety? What would have made you go all Harry Colcord and accept the challenge, take the risk?
What makes you go ALL IN on anything? When’s the last time you went all in, on YOU?
Hmmmmmm…maybe the THAT’S the biggest question? Not, What gets you in the barrel, but WHAT KEEPS YOU IN?
No nets. No tether. No crowds. No promise of riches or fame.
Just You. . .and IT!
See you on THE OTHER SIDE!
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