Very Small Steps

One of the tac­tics of moun­tain climbers is to take very small, slow steps, and keep mov­ing upwards. The air gets pro­gres­sively thin­ner the higher you climb, so you have to pace your­self. To do this takes a great deal of dis­ci­pline and patience. Their back­packs have only what is absolutely essen­tial. Dizzi­ness and a loss of con­cen­tra­tion increases with the climb. A moun­tain climber has to be a philoso­pher. He or she has to stay focused. They have to tran­scend the demands of the pain and defy some of their sur­vival instincts.
Some­times I am so emo­tion­ally tired that I have to do each rou­tine thing like a moun­tain climber that has gone beyond the twenty-thousand foot mark. I do one small task at a time. I break tasks down into smaller and smaller steps. I stay in motion. There will be time to rest at the top. Days have an end. Dead­lines are met (even if only at the last minute), but they are met with­out the soul-draining emo­tion of anx­i­ety. The climber has to trust the process and the wis­dom of those that have gone before them.
Pub­lic schools have already begun in some states. Teach­ers have already been at work. The load of the year ahead looks like Mount Ever­est. Most are tired before the climb even begins. Once again, the “school bus shuf­fle” is the traf­fic dance twice each day. The pace picks up, but the soul longs to keep the sum­mer stroll.
Some­times our ener­gies come to us in very small pack­ets. Use them wisely. Like the manna in the wilder­ness jour­ney of Israel, there will be enough. Ener­gies can­not be hoarded nor bor­rowed from the next day. All we have is what we have in this moment. Life is a lit­tle like the fable of the tur­tle and rab­bit. Over the long haul, per­sis­tence is supe­rior to speed.
Small steps…