“They say a journey of 1000 miles begins with one step. So, watch your step”.
Jeffrey R. Holland
I love love love this quote.
I heard it and it resonated so much for me. One little step – in either the right direction or the wrong direction. One step moves you along to whatever destination you are now travelling.
Stephen Covey gave the analogy of our life being like a flight plan – going from point A to point B. If we are a tiny bit off in direction and never stop to readjust, then one degree of difference could have us end up in a markedly different place. If we don’t constantly correct our flight plan, or realign our internal compass, we may not end up where we want to be.
Everything starts with one step: the road to love starts with saying hi; the road to an A grade starts with opening up the text book; the road to addiction starts with the first sip or the first puff; the road to infidelity starts with the first text. Good or bad – it all starts with one step. Things just don’t “happen”.
Elizabeth Gilbert in her book “Committed” (part two to Eat Pray Love) (love both books) talks about infidelity: “How many times have we heard someone say, “I wasn’t looking for love outside my marriage, but it just happened”. Put in such terms, adultery starts to sound like a car accident, like a patch of black ice hidden on a treacherous curve, waiting for an unsuspecting motorist…but if you dig a little deeper into people’s infidelities, you can almost always see how the affair started long before the first stolen kiss”. The first step is always there….
People will look at professional athletes or accomplished musicians and comment how “lucky” they are to play that way. Lucky? It doesn’t just happen. Hours and hours of sacrifice have gone into their talent. The first step was taken, and then they persevered along that pathway.
The first few steps we take are so important. But the next steps we take are too. And the ones after.
We need to constantly be asking ourselves if we are headed in the direction we want to be in. Are we carving out that life we want? If we are not, then just stop. Take a step in another direction. The direction we want to be moving in.
A journey of a 1000 miles takes a lot of steps. But we are always taking one step at a time. We can choose the direction of each and every step.
