You're Not Falling, You're Walking

Relentlessness is a feature, not a bug

Have you ever seen a child learning to walk? Perhaps one of your own children? Do you remember the look of exhilaration on that child's adorable little face when they took a few steps for the first time? 

Perhaps you remember learning how to ride a bike, and that magical feeling of everything coming together after a wobble or two and feeling like you'd just discovered a superpower?

Every step you take, you're correcting a fall.

Every pedal stroke, you're correcting a fall.

Sometimes in life, when events overcome us and we feel out of control, we forget that falling is the norm. We are supposed to fall. We fall constantly. We also forget that to stop a catastrophe, all we have to do is step, all we have to do is pedal.

Life is a walk, sometimes a jog, sometimes a bike ride, of about three score years and ten. We are always falling. Always. That's not a bug, that's a feature. We can't stop it. We can't get off the bike.

So we might as well as walk. We might as well pedal. Once you do, remember, it's exhilarating. And then we get some momentum, and before we know it, we're somewhere new, out of the woods, out of the darkness, out of the rain.

If you feel like you're falling today, remember to take a step, and see if you can recall how exhilarating it actually is. What does that mean in practical terms? Just because you didn't observe a daily practice yesterday, doesn't mean you're broken. It just means you didn't take a step. Take that step today. The paradox of problems is that they shrink as you walk towards them. 

If you feel like you've lost your way, you'll never find your way, or a new way, a better way, if you stop. The only way forward is to take the step. 

If you feel like your life is out of control and you're scared to face it, if it feels like you're falling, well yes, you are, but take a step, then fall again, commit to the fall, commit to the step. Before you know it, you're back on track. Who knows, you might even rediscover that feeling of exhilaration. You might even break into a jog with a smile on your face, but for now, just one step will do!