Pretend with me for a moment that is the case. First though, let me define what I mean by big steps. Life is filled with many kinds of steps....baby steps that accumulate until you realize the trail behind you, blindfolded steps that are not because of your own doing, backward steps, stepping-on-others'-toes steps, and steps where you are literally being dragged by the arm, toes digging in the dirt.
But the big steps I'm talking about are the ones where you swing your leg behind you in an attempt to wind up the momentum needed to perpetuate your foot as far forward as it will go. You won't know exactly where it is going to land, or what it is going to land on. It's not the tip-toe-along-the-garden-stone-path kind of steps where each foot is carefully and intentionally placed. And, yet, it's not the sprinting kind of step where you don't know exactly what you're landing on, but you're moving fast enough that it doesn't really matter. Big steps are usually anticipated, much contemplated, and yet usually require some external catalyst to launch. And at the same time, they are so big the ground underneath isn't quite in view yet.
Are you with me? Big steps are the hardest steps to take because they open the door to uncertainty. But each time you take a big step, you have the decision to look at it as an uncertainty or look at it as an open door to new horizons that you've finally mustered up the guts to walk through.
Prime examples of big steps are...moving out of your parents' house - to college, an apartment on your own, or across the country....saying "i do" to the one you love....deciding to create a new life and embark on the path to parenthood (sometimes that big step takes a long time for your foot to land, and other times that big step happens more like a kick from behind, but either way, it is most definitely one of life's big steps), accepting a job offer that takes you to an unfamiliar spot on the map, or like my big step today....pushing a door closed, letting the door knob click behind you, and giving up a piece of your security. Yes, most of the time big steps are open doors, but sometimes in order to open one, you have to close another -- and the decision to close certain doors can be a real tough one to make.
Today we got an offer on the house we lived in from the moment we stepped foot in Florida almost ten years ago. It was our open door to a new life as a young married couple....over 1,000 miles away from anyone we knew. All we had were a couple of old cars, a Penske truck full of possessions, and a key to our first real house. But this house had a huge backyard, a two car garage, manicured palm trees and our name on it. It was most definitely one of the top three most exciting big steps we had taken thus far in life. And that step has proved to be a good thing over these last ten years. We look back fondly on that step very often. It took a lot of courage to swing our feet forward on that one, but it seems the younger you are, a pleasant combination of naivety and curiosity creates the momentum needed, making the decision that much easier. That momentum is somehow harder to initiate the older we get.
So, to date, I'd say I've left a good trail of footsteps behind me already from the imprint of my big steps so far. Moving away to college, saying "yes!" to the "will you?" then "I do!" to the "do you?", deciding to change course in my career, moving over 1,000 miles away from all that we knew, making the decision to begin a family, moving again in order to accommodate for that growing family, starting my own company, and today...letting go of the physical evidence of one of my big steps.
One thing has accompanied me during each step. It would be impossible for me to move forward with any of these steps if it wasn't for my faith in God. I would second guess myself out of every single one of those steps, every single time. But with my faith, I know it's not really my plan, but my realization of His plan, and so I'll happily step every time.
"The distance is nothing.
It is only the first step that is difficult."
-Madame Marie du Deffand
Happy stepping.
No comments:
Post a Comment