The journey of 1,000 miles starts with a single step. - Ancient proverb.
Steps in the Sand
And for me taking that first step is the easiest thing in the world to. It is taking the second step, and the third step and the fourth step, step after step, day after day, even year after year, that is the hard part.
I have taken so many first steps that I’ve probably completed 1,000 “1,000 mile journeys”. But because they have all been first steps I have completed relatively little. I have just walked 1,000 little steps around and around in a circle. An uneven staggered circle as a burst of enthusiasm propels me in one direction, and then the next big idea propels me in the opposite.
And so at the start of each journey I resolve to myself that this time I will complete my journey. I will make a map, a plan of what I want to archive. I will list my goals. I will do a to-do list. I will take all the necessary steps needed to complete my journey.
But even then I don’t want to take all those little steps. I want efficiency. I want speed. I want instant gratification.
I don’t want 1,000 little steps. I want one great leap forward. One giant step to take me right to the end. One lotto win that will make my life perfect.
I have started so many journeys not looking at all the little steps, but looking only at the result. “I am looking at the big picture,” I tell myself. I visualise myself standing on the summit of the mountain, not bothering with all the rivers and gullies that stand in my way.
I look for one burst of enthusiasm, one big jump that will take me over all those little rivers and gullies. And then I will magically find myself at the rainbow’s end.
But all those big giant steps look so big. Each one is such a big leap. Each one such a irrevocable commitment. Each one so momentous that I just can’t make myself take the plunge. I just stand, tethering on the edge, until my next brilliant idea takes me back in the opposite direction.
But now I have realised that they are all the same journey. All those false starts are my journey. I have only one life, there is only one journey and each day I take another step, regardless of whether or not I wish it. Each day I am one step closer to the end. I get no choice in whether or not to take each step. But I do get a choice of what direction I take. Each day I get a choice of doing what I want with that day.
Now I no longer look for that great leap forward. I no longer want to suddenly be transported to the end. I want to take one little step forward: write one post on my blog, write one page on my novel, help my children discover one new, exciting thing about the wonderful life they are leading.
And that is all I need to do. Just take one little step in the direction I want to go in. And enjoy each and every moment of this wonderful life that I am privileged to live.
And in due time I will reach the end of my journey, as all journeys must come to an end. But in the meantime I intend to enjoy as many of those little steps as I can possibly squeeze in to my life.
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