at the end of my rope

Today I feel as if I've reached the end of my rope. The problem is I'm not quite sure of the positioning of that rope.

If it is dangling from the edge of a cliff and there are miles of sharp rocks below, I am definitely in some trouble. Letting go could mean death.

If it has been cast to me in a body of very deep and dangerous water, my survival increases tremendously because I have a very buoyant head (not to say that it's hollow or empty) and I just don't sink. But staying in that water for too long could cause painful pruning of the skin.

If the rope is horizontal, then my chances of reaching the beginning of the rope ever again are fantastic. It would probably entail a simple one-foot-in-front-of-the-other strategy.

To be at the end of one's proverbial rope implies that all course of action have been taken, there is no more help to be acquired and there's just nothing left to do.

I could try pulling myself up hand over hand, I suppose. But I am afraid if I let go, even for a second, I won't even have this little bit left. And then what? What happens when you have no rope at all?