The Sphinxes' Eyes

If you don't recognize the above, then you're probably one of the ones who make me feel old. In case you are, or if it's just been a really long time since you've seen The Neverending Story, all you really need to know is that the sphinxes you see there are the first gate the hero Atreyu must pass en route to the Southern Oracle, where he hopes to find the means to keep his world from being ripped to shreds. In order to make it through this first gate alive, one must be confident in the pureness of his heart. Anyone with ulterior motives or uncertainty about this being the right course of action will be flash-fried by laser beams shot from the sphinxes' eyes.

It's a simple enough set-up. Be confident, and you live to get your answers. Waver, and everything falls apart while you sizzle. The Southern Oracle is 10,000 miles from the Swamps of Sadness. That's a long walk when you don't have a luck dragon to take you most of the way.

I got some advice this week, and as I walk, I'm trying to follow it, even though the execution is so alien to me, I don't feel like myself. Hopefully, by the time I get to the sphinxes, I'll have been able to decide if it's worth it. Hopefully, my heart will tell me either to make the leap of faith and not look down for the safety net, or to stop and figure something else out before I approach the gate. Hopefully, when I do get there, the sphinxes' eyes will stay closed. Maybe then, I'll get to ask the Oracle where to go from there.