We all have a vision of our own limitless potential and that which we aspire to become. Whether it’s in our personal lives, our creative endeavors or our careers, that vision is inside us and in moments of clarity and inspiration, we see it, we feel it, we believe in it. I often experience it as a deeply rooted passion and fire within that I’m dying to express and bring to life.
Sometimes though, I want to realize that vision so badly that I become flustered. There are so many actions that I could take, so much I want to do and become that it’s difficult to focus, to know where to begin and to give any one thing the full attention it deserves. One of the most valuable lessons I’ve learned is to take ONE STEP AT A TIME. Simple right? But we all know it’s not always as easy as it sounds.
In this current day and age, where everything around us moves so fast, it’s easy to get caught up in the “race” mentality. We want it and we want it RIGHT NOW. This mindset and our fast-paced Western lifestyle have caused us to forget how it is that we as human beings learn best. This point can be illustrated by a simple example.
I was recently sitting in thought on a little pause from writing and I began twirling my pencil with my right hand the way I used to in class. I tried to do it with my left hand but couldn’t at first. Then I remembered that back in the day, the first time I saw a classmate do it, I tried and couldn’t do it all. Slowly and patiently, I kept trying it over and over again (I had lots of time in class to practice-lol), until eventually it came. So with that in mind, I took the same approach with my left hand and before long, I was able to do it with ease!
There is nothing we can’t do. All it takes is the focus, patience and determination to keep at it, breathing all the way, until it becomes effortless. This is how children learn to walk and where the expression “baby steps” comes from. And in fact, little ones often fall flat on their faces many times before taking those first steps (poor little munchkins), but they don’t give up and eventually it comes. As adults, it’s easy to lose sight of this and it would do us some good to remember how we learned to take our first steps.
This “one step at a time” approach can apply to any skill we wish to acquire, such as a new brush technique or guitar style, as well as to any life lesson we wish to implement, such as altering a negative thinking pattern. When we don’t give ourselves the space and time to fully absorb and internalize new lessons, we never get to the point of truly making them our own. This limits our progress and our natural ability to grow into the person of our dreams.
Instead, we produce the same results, repeat the same mistakes and experience the frustration of being stuck and not being where we want to be. You can do anything. All you need to do is breathe, be present and give yourself the time and space to learn. Focus on one thing, practice it and go all the way with it until it becomes second nature. Then it’s yours for good and you can take the next step towards realizing your vision!
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Chris is a singer-songwriter and the first TDL reader to be a featured guest blogger. To check out Chris’ music visit his website.
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