One Step at a Time

by Beverley Paine, Aut 2012

"You don't have to see the staircase, just take the first step."
Martin Luther King

I think there is a huge lesson in the message in this quote I saw coupled with an image of a staircase on Facebook today, but my brain is weary. However, I can't help myself, even when weary... Instantly a question popped into my mind, "Where is the staircase going, is it going where you want to go?"

And then the insight (I expect when I ask questions) burst forth: "control, I need to keep working on letting go of the need to control. I want to see the big picture, to see where the staircase is going because I don't trust that the staircases I build are going to take me where I need to go. I still want to go where I want to go. I'm not internalising my lessons about wants yet."

That's how my mind works. It then went on to reflect on wants versus needs, a recurring theme in my thoughts over the past year.

'Want' responds to my conscious thoughts which are also my trained thoughts. I'm still reacting to what I should be doing. Even my sense of cautiousness owes a large part of its power to my training - very full of 'should' messages. 'Need' responds to my instinctive thoughts, to my actual needs, to what my body is telling me I need to do to be where I really want to be.

The staircase has appeared not because of my wants but because of my needs. If I trusted that I am smart enough and have what it takes to steer the most appropriate course through my life, one that will meet my needs, then I'd be happy to take that first step and stop procrastinating because I can't see where the darn staircase is going!

I'm a natural learner, every moment of every day I'm learning. All I need to do is reflect on what I am learning right now as I respond to my environment and what I bring to my consciousness and whammo, I've learned something incredibly powerful and important. Life is AWESOME!