A famous story from Zen literature presents the provocative question, “How do you step from the top of a 100 foot pole?

The poem that goes along with this question says:
You who sit on the top of a 100 foot pole
Although you have entered the Way, it is not yet genuine
Take a step from the top of the pole
And the entire world becomes your body

In some very basic way, our lives are like being perched on the top of a 100 foot pole. At each moment in our relationships, in our work and in our lives, we have no choice but to do something or say something. Doing nothing, or remaining silent is a choice; it is still doing something. As the poem says, though you are making an effort, the challenge is to be fully alive, fully genuine. When we take this step, there is no gap between us and the world, no more sense of confusion, trying, effort – “the entire world becomes your body.”

What do you think? In what way is your life like “stepping from the top of a 100 foot pole”?