I saw my life in the balance this week. I was in a truck. On the side of a mountain. The drop off was a couple of thousand feet. There were inches between our vehicle and the drop-off. No guard rail. No wall. Just...inches. The road was washboard dirt - and loose sand. And one lane. With occasional vehicles in both directions. It was steep up followed by a hairpin turn and steep down followed by a hair pin turn. Every time you put on your breaks, you slid. Steep down, followed by hair pin turn and if you put on your breaks you slide. Just wanted to make sure I painted that picture clearly.

It took us almost three hours to go twenty-two miles. Three hours of sheer terror. Of hanging on to the door, staring at the mountain wall on one side of us rather than the drop off on the other. Three hours of facing that fact that I might die that day.

We were driving on pavement one minute, exploring, and suddenly the pavement ended and there we were. Trapped. There was no way to turn around. A chance we took, a choice we made put us on the road to hell. We had to ride it or die.

At one point I announced that I had to get out and walk. We were about halfway into the twenty-two miles. At that point I was fairly certain that my chances of walking 12 miles in 106 degree heat with two small bottles of water were better than being in that vehicle another second. Tim told me not to be ridiculous and didn't stop.

I was terrified. He was...pissed. Really pissed. Seriously pissed. I've come to realize getting angry is the guy version of fear.

The second we hit pavement I burst into tears. Tim pulled off and I got out. Immediately. I looked around me and saw the most incredibly beautiful sight. I was on top of the world. I could see for miles. Beautiful mountains that went on forever. And below me, a crystal clear lake that also went on as far as I could see.

And then I realized that I'd just been given another gift. Another chance to know and understand. Sometimes we have to do all we can do and then...trust. Sometimes life is out of our hands and that's when we hang on and ride. Sometimes we make bad choices, but we can still come out on top. Sometimes it seems as though the road to hell is never ending but it's really the road to heaven.

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