"Baby step by baby step, you have what you need right now to start moving
in the direction of your happiest dreams."
Marta Davidovich Ockuly
in the direction of your happiest dreams."
Marta Davidovich Ockuly
When I ran cross-country in high school, my coach called me his "ever not satisfied runner." No matter how many seconds I shaved off from my previous race, I always felt I should have run faster. No matter how many places I moved up on the team, I felt I could have placed higher had I tried a little bit harder.
I'm experiencing some of those same feelings tonight, more than decade later.
I wanted my first post, my first step, on this 180-day journey to be something grand. Impressive. Not a step, but a leap. So tonight I had it all mapped out in my mind that would finally type up the manuscript for a picture book I'd written a few years back, and that's sat in my notebook every since. It's still sitting in the notebook.
Just as I sat down with my laptop, I remembered some flyers I needed to design for the upcoming workshops I want to teach. And then there was my artist's statement I needed to freshen up and send off to the shops selling my Re•Told Journals. And—shoot! Did I post my February dream board to the Ning site for the teleworkshop I'm participating in? I'd better get to that, too.
Before I knew it, it was nearly 10 pm—already a half hour past the bed time I'd promised myself this morning having woken up much too groggy. And I still hadn't updated this blog.
SIGH...first day in and no steps taken. Or so I thought.
"Did you post to your blog," my sweetie asked.
"No," I said, defeated. "I didn't do anything. I have nothing to post."
"Sure you do. You made your flyers," he responded, as if how could I forget?
Does that count? It's just a flyer. It's such a minuscule step.
But it's a step, I heard myself argue with my inner gremlins. And, as the quote on last month's dream board read, "with a few baby steps in the right direction, you will soon reach your goal of a million miles."
After all...
How did I learn my first lead role in a musical? One line at a time.
How did I graduate from college with honors? One class and one paper at a time.
How did I complete each marathon I've run? One mile at a time.
How will I reach a life lived on purpose? One step at a time.
Tonight that step was creating a flyer. And I'm ok with that.