Fear of not falling - Again (?)!

Sometimes learning goes in a spiral. You unpeel one layer and there is another. That's what's going on for me in terms of "fear of not falling". I opened a book to read last night. It was The Alchemist by Paulo Coehlo. I read a lot so it is somewhat surprising that I haven't read it yet. I am meant to read it now. I read the introduction and stopped. There was that concept "fear of not falling" again. Not in those words, but there it was.

Essentially the fear of not falling is the fear of success, or to quote Paulo Coehlo,'The mere possibility of getting what we want fills the soul of the ordinary person with guilt. We look around at all those who have failed to get what they want and feel that we do not deserve to get what we want either. We forget about all the obstacles we overcame, all the suffering we endured, all the things we had to give up in order to get this far. I have known a lot of people who, when their personal calling was within their grasp, went on to commit a series of stupid mistakes and never reached their goal - when it was only a step away".

I get what "fear of not falling" is and my intention is never again not to make that last climbing move when the finish is in my grasp, not to fall out of a pose in yoga without really pushing to my personal edge, not to think I'm too old or not good enough. What I want to do is "soar, eat ether, see what has never been seen, depart, be lost, but climb" - Edna St.Vincent Millay.