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Baby Steps

2019 September 16
by WWGD

I ran two minutes and 28 seconds the other day.

I know it was 148 seconds because I watched the clock on the treadmill tick by with every single one, trying to find the endorphins all these runner types speak of, but really just feeling pains in the my shins and my skin starting to crawl (literally, it itches when I run – anyone else??) and my body trudging along, willing the clock to move faster with every step.

But I did it. Two minutes and 28 seconds. And it felt like a million more. I think that for a big portion of my life, it wouldn’t have felt like enough. It would have felt like a bit of a failure. It would have felt like too little. Not this time, though. It felt like a million and one steps towards one big one and that felt really good.

I spend a lot of time psyching myself out of goals or challenges or new because the mountain, the climb, the hunt for endorphins, is simply too overwhelming. It’s easier not to start at all than to stare up at the challenge and face it head on. But with baby steps, I give myself a pat on the back every step of the way. I am kind to myself, knowing that the pace will ebb and flow and the mountain will still be there…ready in its own time for me to scale it. I can make progress through the journey, instead of only at the destination and that feels really good at this stage of life.

I’ve been running for a long time. Not physically, don’t get me wrong. But running, nonetheless. And right now, I am perfectly ok with simply taking little steps instead. I think you end up in the same place, after all. Just at a slower pace. And that is just fine by me.

*image above via The Chalkboard Mag

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