Baby Steps

I often talk about taking Baby Steps. I’ve actually got the words on my vision board for this year as a reminder to myself. This is because taking baby steps is something I truly believe.

Not many of us remember back to when we were babies and beginning to learn to walk. However, there wouldn’t be many amongst us who haven’t watched a toddler taking their first steps. The photo above is the first time the Tween ever stood and took her first step. Look at the determination on her face.
No child ever stood up and took off at a trot the first time they finally got to their feet and managed to stay there. There was a lot of hesitation involved, arms outstretched for balance and grim determination as they found their balance and took that tentative first step. Maybe they took two steps and rushed to complete a third before completely overbalancing and landing on their (well padded) bottoms.
However, once they had taken that first step they knew they could do it again and there was no holding them back from trying it once more.
Lao Tzu wrote “The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step”.
In simple terms this means that no person ever got anywhere without putting one foot in front of the other and making a starting point. The only place we can be without forward motion is ‘stopped’.
Stationary.
At a stand still.
Going nowhere.
Every person has dreams and desires. We all want to give up something (or take something up). We wish to achieve peace, happiness or enlightenment within our lives. We are attempting to claw our way out of the dark places that we somehow find ourselves in.
Really, the list is endless of the things we wish to move forward with.
There are almost as many reasons for staying still and being safe with where we are right now.
I often comment on the blog posts of others “Baby steps – one step at a time”. Those of you who have received these comments from me are no doubt nodding in acknowledgement of this fact.
I also like to say “Put one foot in front of the other” because really that is all we can do.
Just as there is no future in looking back, there is no future in remaining stationary either.
I am not going to sugar coat things. Taking these baby steps will hurt.
After all, we are exercising ‘muscles’ we haven’t used in a while.
And it won’t be easy.
We may make progress before stumbling and falling. A little progress is better than no progress after all.
When we fall, we have two choices. We can either choose to stay down there or we can get to our feet again and try once more to put one foot in front of the other and ‘move confidently in the direction of our dreams’.
No toddler ever learned to walk or move forward without getting to their feet time and time again and increasing their step count each time.
It takes expended effort to do this.
We will not move forward unless we also expend effort in doing so.
Harboring false hopes of hitting the ground running is only setting yourself up for failure. That’s not being kind to yourself and it’s not fair to do this.
Anything worth doing or having requires effort.
As I’ve said before “There is no magic pill”.
So…
Be kind to yourself.
Don’t expect miracles.
Continue to put one foot in front of the other and take those ‘baby’ steps.

It won’t be long before you are running!