I’ve been here before. My feet perch precariously on the homemade wooden platform. The ground looks a million miles below me. I clutch the rough hemp of the thick rope and wrap my legs around the large knot near the end. I take a breath and jump…

They dismantled that old rope swing at our Family Bible Camp after years of use. The ladder twisted up a tree: bits of board, nails and wire. It swayed in the slightest breeze. You couldn’t chicken out; the ladder was too narrow. Yet there was always a line.

Going into freelancing fulltime is like that gut-dropping moment when you are sure the rope isn’t going to hold and you will crash screaming into the hard-packed earth. I took the leap this January and I haven’t looked back.

Devoting myself whole-heartedly to writing allows me to pursue my passions and go after every spark of gold I find in calls for submissions and writers wanted ads. Now I have time to do all those assignments I used to put aside for later.

The renewed passion I discovered within myself makes all the years of frustration and rejection a thing of the past. I’m looking to the future. My book proposal for my second non-fiction book passed the rejection phase and another publisher has asked me to write a book for them. Many of my writing projects are green lit, so I am busier than ever. I’ve never been happier.

Why do seemingly sane people leap off into space, with no guarantee that the rope will hold? They know that the rush of exhilaration and success cannot be achieved without the risk. When you risk it all, you can attain things you never thought possible. Race you to the top!

Shaunna Privratsky writes fulltime from her home in North Dakota. Please sign up FREE to The Writer Within Newsletter at: https://shaunna67.tripod.com. It is a paying market!