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The Steps Matter

These past couple of months has been a little tough. With the pandemic’s financial strain and no close hope in sight to re-open my business, I have had to re-think all my plans for my future. It’s a harsh reality when you find yourself at the first step, all over again in your life. I can’t begin to tell you how many first steps I have found myself at through my whole 36 years of living. Good Lawd. It’s always hard in the beginning to recognize your situation. For some it’s a failure they need to recover from. For some it’s an unpleasant and unexpected change of events. For some it’s a consequence that was waiting to happen due to the action taken prior. It can literarily be anything, but it’s usually not the prettiest scene; that first step, again.
Then again, I have had to change my thinking. Just why should I knock myself even further down, when I am already down, per say? You can choose to beat yourself up for finding yourself down that ladder once again, that’s fine, it’s your choice. But, you could, instead, choose to decide on a better-packed suitcase for your next trial up that ladder once again. So, my readers, you already know, I am packing my new bag pack up to climb this ladder of life once again. Honestly, with all the ascending and descending of this ladder, I should have body-builder calves by now. Life is a workout after all.
I was not sure where this blog was going but I got it midway through trying to silence my 4-year-old in the background scream-singing along to the “Baby Shark” song for, I swear his 896th time, and still not knowing all the words or dances. And, at the same time cheering my little 10-month-old who continues to strain himself to stand up and walk; poor child refuses to crawl first. This blog is to remind myself—and any one of my readers, if relevant to you—that we will find ourselves in very uncomfortable places in life, especially after some of our plans don’t work out like what this pandemic has brought about to many of us. And you may find yourself feeling like, I can’t believe I have to do this again! Or, I can’t believe I have to figure out something else now!
Just watching my kids…. Parent or not, you have had to notice that children are on straight repeat mode. They’ll try once, and then again and again, until they finally get to where they are trying to be. It literarily starts with taking that first bent down drag to crawl and then the first step to walking. And then it’s the first bike ride and next the roller skates, constant falling till they find their balance. Children are relentless at their persistent trials. So I paused and thought to myself, Yes, I know, I am an adult and old enough, but we are and we will always be children of life, if you really think about it.
So what if I fell off my bicycle for the 90th time? Thomas Edison was asked, “How did it feel to fall 1000 times?” His reply was, “I didn’t fall a 1000 times. The light bulb was an invention with 1000 steps.” It’s all in the steps we choose to continue to take, as long as we want to know how to ride a bicycle. But even if we are done with riding a bike and we want to roller skate next, then taking all those steps are just part of it all. The steps matter.
It hasn’t been easy for many of us. The pandemic has brought such immense change to all our lives. It has all together disrupted, dismantled, and derailed plans that were made; but was somehow also a surprisingly uplifting, motivating, and inspiring experience. The perspective is all yours to choose. Yes, the floor may not be the best place to find yourself on, but sometimes the floor is the best remedy for back pain, am I right? You all know what they say, “The best part of being at the bottom is that there is only one way out; it’s up.”
So as the children of life that we all are, can I just remind us to keep playing, and falling, and balancing ourselves until we learn how to ride our bicycles, or roller skates, or swim, or whatever it may be. Just remember to be kind to yourself as you take those steps. The steps matter—no matter how little, no matter how repetitive.
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