Baby Steps

I have a sign on my desk. It reads "Baby Steps".

Its purpose is to remind me that life if to taken one step at a time.

When we walk through the woods, or across a river or stream, we look for little stepping stones to assure us of sure footing and safe passage.

Sometimes these stepping stones are close together.

Sometimes we need to make a rather large stride to reach the next stepping stone.

This is also true of our day to day life.

Our lives are made of stepping stones, one experience after another in perfect and divine order.

The years of our life do not arrive all at once, they greet us day by day.

With the descent of each setting sun, we are able to rest our heads and allow the world to take care of itself for a while.

Although we worry, we may rest assured throughout the night, knowing that the dawn will bring with it a chance to meet our lives anew, donning fresh perspectives and dream-inspired hopes and ambitions.

Within the hours that follow, before we return to sleep once more, there exists time for us to decide how we want to live and learn, laugh and grow, and love once again.

Our lives are sweeter and more manageable for each day we live and love, because we must experience them this way ... one day at a time ... Baby Steps.

Imagine the future stretching out before us and try to notice any tension or feeling of being overwhelmed at the prospect of the journey still to come.

Perhaps we have recently made a lifestyle change, like beginning a new diet or retiring an old habit, beginning a new career or ending a life-long one, embarking upon a new romance or losing the one we love.

The very idea of this new reality can seem daunting.

Maybe we have started a new job, have embarked upon a new relationship, or uprooted our life and moved to a new community far away from our comfort zone.

In one manner or another, we feel an undercurrent of anxiety about our ability to succeed and we worry about our existence and our future.

This is not what is meant for us.

When we shift our focus from what may happen years down the line and return our focus to the day that is before us right now, we may find a measure of calmness and renewed confidence in our abilities.

We may also discover an inner faith that the future will take care of itself.

The way that we show up for our lives today and tomorrow has an enormous affect on who we will be and what we will be experiencing years from now.

My partner has taught me that if we remain fully engaged in the day at hand, enjoying all it has to offer and putting our energy into making the most of it, we will find that we are perfectly ready and able to handle anything the future holds in store for us once it arrives.

There exists a balance in our day to day life which we often fail to see.

Wake each morning with a smile and embrace the opportunities and the challenges ahead.

Give thanks for the new day and life itself.

Embrace nature and what it has to offer, be it a bright and sunny day, or one complete with snow or rain or wind.

We have one life to live. Live it!

With love & light,

Rob