EVERY STEP WE TAKE

Every step you take is a step away from where you used to be. Each day, we move. We take steps, we evolve, we change, we learn.

Each of those steps changes us in some small way. Each step makes us a little different than we were before but different from what? What we used to be because we are now different. Usually in a small way but sometimes in ways that are more profound or drastic than others can imagine.

What we become is largely dependent on how we respond to these changes. We can take them in a positive direction and grow from them, or we could be devastated by them.
It is our choice, our life. Choose with wisdom. We take steps all the time from here to there. To the bathroom! To the kitchen! To work! To play! How often do we notice these steps? And those are the physical steps.

What of the emotional steps? How often do we walk towards anger and resentment and how often do we walk towards love and compassion? By not noticing these walks, we risk allowing the occasional trip to become a pathway or even a habit.
Without noticing, we might not stop taking a path, which does not serve us

well, or take more often one which improves us. We become what we practice on a regular basis but if we aren’t paying attention, how would we know? As the statement says, we are here right now.
Where ‘here’ is would vary depending on the individual. Any step you take from here would move you a step farther away from where you presently are. The deeper implication is that we could change, even if only by a small amount, if we simply take a step in the desired direction.

If we do not pay attention, if we do not notice where our steps are leading us, we are simply wandering. If we pay attention and adjust our steps based on our desires, values and principles, we could make a strong and rapid change from what we were to what we desire to become.
Where are you now? Where is ‘here’ for you? Take a moment to think about that. Now consider where you would like to be. Are you close to that, or are you so far away that you only have a clue that you want to be over there, somewhere? Knowing where you are (even if only roughly) and where you want to go are the first things you need to know. Do you need to see the full staircase to take the first step? Or can you start out in that general direction?

If you examine what steps you are taking and what direction they take you (as well as how often and how far), you could start to trim away that which does not serve you and emphasise those steps, which take you closer to where you want to be.
Grab some paper and something you could use to write and start making a pair of lists. Think of all the things you do on a regular basis and add them to the column which it best matches: ‘Takes me closer to my destination’ and ‘Takes me away from my destination.’ Take a few minutes to make the lists. Now consider each list.

On the closer list, which of these could you do more often? How could you make this a larger part of your life? When could you set aside to do more of this? Then, when you’ve considered each of these, look at the away list. Which of these could you simply stop doing? How many of these things could you cut back on, doing less frequently or for less duration?
Now take a moment and consider how you will do that. How would you recognise that you are headed in the right direction and do more of it?

How would you recognise that you are headed in the wrong direction and stop? More importantly, how would you figure out how to prevent yourself from doing it again in the future, or at least reduce the chance it will happen again?
Each decision you make moves you one step farther from where you used to be. Hopefully, with a little planning, a little observation and some changes within, you would start to see the steps you are taking begin to approach the place, the person, you would like to become.

It is your life, your steps, your desire, your outcome.
Who do you want to become and what steps do you have to take and not take, to get there?

We must each answer those questions ourselves, as our goals are as individual as our fingerprints. And we must be willing to persevere if we are to make a difference in our own life.
What will your first deliberate step be? Take it!

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