Not long ago, a friend of mine and I were talking. I was saying how frustrated I was feeling, learning how to juggle all the pieces of my business and make it grow to where I wanted it. I was afraid I’d never be able to get to a point where I didn’t have to struggle to get my web-site where I wanted it, to create high-quality products and programs, and the steep learning curve of how to serve people while growing and expanding my business. She said something very profound that really resonated with me. I was saying how grateful I was and how many incredibly amazing people had come into my life and how well everything was going, but that day, I was feeling anything but grateful and joyous. In fact, I was just down-right cranky.
She said that in child development, when a child is ready to walk for the first time, there is a period just prior to that when the child is ornery and feeling very frustrated. It is because she is wanting to walk and knows that she can. She can see it, feel it and almost, but not quite do it. They will have temper tantrums and be in melt-down sometimes for days or weeks prior to actually taking that first step.
Then at the moment she actually lets go of the furniture and takes that first step and then the next, you can see in her eyes the wonder and awe in her achievement. Then she quickly sits down because the BIGNESS of what she’s done scares her a bit. There’s a contemplation time – and then she gets back up and walks some more.
At first she’s a bit shaky and falls often. But within a short period of time, she masters basic walking and then learns how to pick up the pace and run!
Perhaps you’ve been feeling the same way. You’ve been working at a goal for some time, and you feel SO CLOSE to your goal. Yet it seems like it’s just out of reach still and you’re doubting yourself and feeling out of sorts. It feels like craziness is all around you and nothing is going smoothly.
As adults, we do the same thing when we are coming up to a major achievement in our lives. When we feel turmoil, anger and frustration, we also create chaos and turbulence in our lives and we doubt we’ll ever make it. The sign posts are there, showing us we can do what our hearts most want to do. Often we get pulled off-course because of what we create, so we further doubt ourselves ever reaching the goals. Sometimes, depending on our conditioning, we even give up on our dreams and our goals because we don’t believe in ourselves.
However, perseverance and single-mindedness, even in the face of our self-doubt and craziness are what carry us through to our goals. Constancy and repetition eventually create skills and self confidence. And just like that child who takes its first steps, we break into a whole new world of potential and creation doing just what we love most.
I wanted to share this analogy to help you realize that you are on track and that you are nearing your goals and dreams. It certainly helped me see things in a different light. It allowed me to be patient with myself and let go of some of the fear and self-doubt with which I was flogging myself. Keep up your incredible work. You are almost there. You’re already holding onto the couch and using it to walk from one end to the other. Tomorrow you’ll let go and walk on your own steam. Perhaps you’ve reached the goal you’ve been working toward, but it’s not completely mastered and you feel shaky. Just keep going. Stay on task. You’re developing your own skill sets and perfecting them. You can do this! You just did! And once you’ve mastered that one thing you’ve been striving for, you’ll have created for yourself a shiny, new level of expertise – and then you’ll learn to run!
