Every Step Matters
Every step matters, no matter how small. Even the ones that seem not to. Steps are the only way we get anything done. From the laundry to a sandwich to a skyscraper to a peace treaty, it all takes steps. Sometimes lots of the them.
Of course you want to take the right steps and avoid missteps whenever possible. That is why every step matters. Our steps take us, one at a time, from point A to point B . . . or C or D or Z. But every step counts. It’s only when we try to leap ahead, to skip to the end, that we fall. Sometimes flat on our faces.
Our steps can lead us in directions we are not expecting and aren’t sure we are really ready to take. They may be easy steps along a garden path or challenging ones up a craggy hill. But we take the next one, and the next one, trusting that it will bring us closer to our goal.
You may find your steps leading you on a winding path in a dense forest, so full of twists and turns that you can never quite see what’s coming around the bend.
Or they may lead you to a long, straight desert highway on which, no matter how fast you go, you can never seem to see the end.
Your steps may be long or short, shuffling or bouncy. Your steps might be measured in skips or twirls, strokes or curls, notes or words or clicks. You may use your feet to make your steps, or perhaps a pen, or a camera, or a paint brush or a hammer. But whatever your steps comprise, every single one counts. It matters.
Sometimes we might be going along at a nice clip. We feel good, on a roll, in the zone. Then suddenly, doubt creeps in. It whispers in our ear that it can’t last. That we’ll never get there. That we never really had it in us anyway. And if we listen to that voice we begin to slow, to drag, and eventually, stop. Sometimes we might even turn around, head bowed, tail between our legs, and go back the way we came, believing the voice is right.
But if we can stay in that moment, standing there in the middle of that long road, and turn our heads to gaze in both directions - forward and back - we will realize that we are actually half-way there. And if those little, single, measly steps got us that far, they can get us the rest of the way, too.
And so we turn in the direction of our heart’s desire and step again. And again. We leave the voice behind. For now. Yes, it will come again. But that doesn’t change the truth. Every step matters. And it is the only thing that will get us from here to there.
