Just This Next Step

A familiar Chinese proverb reminds us that the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

We know this to be true on a “duh, of course you start moving with one step” level, but we sometimes forget the larger meaning of this simple message amidst the thousands of steps we take each day.

To make it even more challenging, we really have multiple thousand-mile journeys on our itinerary at once, as we raise a family, contribute to our community, dedicate ourselves to our chosen profession, and nurture our friendships. And these journeys have thousands of micro-journeys: to grocery stores, schools, sporting events, strategy sessions, conferences, plays, meetings, concerts, shopping malls, restaurants, gas stations, foreign countries, and neighbors’ houses (to name just a few).

But at any given moment, you are just taking ONE step. This step, in this moment, so you may arrive in the next moment.

It really IS as simple as that.

We make it WAY more complicated than it needs to be because our busy, multi-tasking, do-all-the-things culture encourages us to focus on ALL THE JOURNEYS, ALL THE DESTINATIONS, ALL THE TIME.

That’s exhausting.

We are not multi-taskers. We are single-taskers. Period. End of story.

A few weeks ago, we took a thousands-of-miles journey to Italy, and my children were super excited to climb the almost 500 narrow and winding steps to the top of the dome of the famous Duomo in Florence.

I consider myself in fairly good shape, but after several minutes of constant climbing (in a single-file line with tourists in front of you and behind you), I started thinking OMG THERE ARE LITERALLY HUNDREDS MORE STEPS TO GO AND IF I STOP I WILL MESS UP THE PROCESSION FOR EVERYONE BEHIND ME AND OMG HOW MANY MORE STEPS ARE THERE NOW?

This was not helpful.

I took the deepest breath I could in that moment… and told myself to focus on just the next step. And then, the next one step. I continued to literally just take the stairs one step at a time.

The shift in my state of mind (and the state of my winded body) was noticeable. One step. One step. One step…

It was so much easier. My mind wasn’t running through worries about if I would make it and what people would think of me if I didn’t. My mind was right there with my body, one step at a time. With greater presence, I noticed a lot more: the morning sunlight coming in through the small windows in the stairway, the centuries-old bricks placed in a brilliant dome-within-a-dome pattern by Renaissance genius Brunelleschi.

And then, I was at the top. Almost 500 steps above the ground, with gorgeous views of Florence and Tuscany.

The following weekend, I was back in the Western hemisphere and performing with my dance team. We had one dance that we nailed, and then the next one… well, let’s just say it was a bit of a hot mess, with lots of unintended solos.

Backstage, we talked about our disappointing performance, and one of my teammates said, “I do better when I try not to overthink it. When I start thinking about the whole dance, instead of the count I am on, I mess up.”

I am the same way. When I dance, I count out each count of eight in my head. If I start thinking about the next formation, I lose my place.

Literally, I need to dance one step at a time.

What would it be like if we all walked and danced and climbed through our days just one step at a time? 

What would it be like if, instead of focusing on our overwhelming list of to-dos, we simply asked, What do I need to do right now? What is the one next step I need to take?

Our days are overwhelming when we can’t separate all the different journeys we are on and when we try to hold multiple itineraries and destinations in our head. Then our path forward is confusing and muddled.

It’s a revolutionary act in our culture to refuse to be a multi-tasker, and dedicate oneself to single-tasking. But, like many revolutionary acts, the result is profound.

If we spend some time connecting to our biggest intentions, and reflecting on what is important to us, the next steps in our journey are usually quite clear.

If we pause and take a deep breath, with awareness of what is happening right now, the next single step is, literally, right in front of us.

One step at a time.

You plant a garden one flower at a time. … You write a book one word at a time, clean a closet one shelf at a time, run a marathon one step at a time. If you feel defeated by some large task, get your spade and dig the first hole.

Jeanne Marie Laskas