Journey of a thousand steps….

Be mindful how you measure yourself

The journey of a thousand steps cannot be measured by the last one…..

Life and how good we are at doing life, of late seems to be increasingly measured by the success of our performance in one thing: one race, one competition, one event, one exam, one XYZ.

We measure ourselves harshly on this one moment. We forget what we learned, who we became, how our skills grew, the obstacles we overcame, the relationships we built, so many positives to every step of the way.

For most of us it’s a complex process getting to the start, the race, the exam, the event, that big thing. The journey is often riddled with life challenges, personal obstacles, the thief of time management and all sorts of curve balls. The substance of life, that grows us!

Why do we so desperately want to measure and define our entire identity on just this one thing? We believe that we are judged by everyone on that one thing and as a result, it often becomes our biggest brag or biggest excuse. Neither of which are a pleasant energy to be around. We become needy, needy to be seen and recognised. It becomes our identity.

And yet often what matters more is who we truly are as a whole person, how we behave and act, and how we are remembered by others: in other words each step along the way and how this dynamically forms us.

See the journey of a thousand steps…as a thousand steps of life, growth,experience, learning, strength…the last step takes on a far greater meaning when you take a moment and contemplate each step that fell before.

Me on a long walk, focusing on the steps. When you get ‘there’ take a moment to absorb the view, not get absorbed in you and a litany of judgements.

I am not especially religious but imagine if God only judged each one of us at those pearly gates by how fast we climbed the steps, the drama of our death, the bragging of our pain, or with our litany of excuses…no he acknowledges the thousands steps that you took before this; steps that were often invisible and alone in the quiet spaces of your life.


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