Have you ever had a dream in which you were being chased? If you haven’t, you can probably imagine what it would feel like. Suppose you were forced to climb a mountain, but as you run across the peak, you suddenly stop because you find yourself at the edge. It seems the only option is to jump.

But as you’re about to make the final leap to avoid your pursuer, something catches your eye. Just a few feet away, you see a bridge, and even though you can’t see where it leads, you have no choice but to trust and cross it.

On the other side, you find yourself in a garden at some kind of party. You’re surrounded by people you love and everyone’s having a good time. You feel safe and thoughts of worry are far from your mind. You’re caught up in the joy of being. The troubles you experienced just a few moments before are long gone, left in a distant land in a distant dream.

Sometimes certain aspects of life can feel hopeless. When we resist or run from problems, they only seem to get bigger and more daunting. There are times when it feels like our experiences push us to the edge of a figurative cliff, rendering us stuck between a daunting past and an unforeseeable, dangerous future. We find ourselves paralyzed, not willing to go back and yet unable to jump.

But the choice to move forward or backward doesn’t have to be daunting.

There’s a way to progress into safe territory.

We simply have to look around for the bridge that will lead us to a joyous existence, and even if it isn’t readily apparent, we have the ability to build one simply by thinking it into form.

Read the full article on Thought Catalog.