Just Jump In

I have been scrolling aimlessly for too long, so I decided I would do some writing instead. Sometimes I get the urge to write, just for the sake of writing, but don’t have a topic in mind. I just start writing. I wish I could say I knew where I was going, but sometimes you just have to make the first step. Isn’t that very true of life, though? Isn’t it the case that sometimes you have a direction you want to grow in, but don’t know the way? Don’t we often need to move in a direction just from the love of the direction? I know I have done this on countless occasions. 

My favorite example is working out. Everyone has their two cents on how you should get started, and most of it involves too much pain. I used to never be in shape because every workout routine was for people far more fit than me, so I would wind up biting off more than I could chew. But, as I got older, I started saying “I am going to at least do something!” I would jab the punching bag for 30 minutes, or go for a walk for a little while. Was it the most effective thing to help become the most in-shape person planet earth has ever seen? Probably not. It did, however, get me started. Once I had my foot in the door, I started seeing how much better I felt, so I would take it up a notch. I started taking martial arts, started lifting weights, and started getting better at the whole thing. 

I still do everything wrong, and I still bend the “should-be’s” so that I can maintain something more important: passion. That is one of the essential ingredients to this recipe. If you can become dedicated to the cause, disciplined to doing whatever it takes regardless of the mood at hand, you can become your most powerful self. But the first step to greatness is nurturing passion. Only after you have turned that tiny spark into a raging bonfire, is it time to talk about the specifics. Discipline is a must, but willingness to discipline is an even greater must. 

It reminds me of a story I tell often. When I was a kid, I took drum lessons. My teacher put me through the gauntlet, and there were days where I was ready for lessons to end. But I never thought about quitting. Deep down, I knew I was on the right path. I knew this was something right about what I was doing. After a while, I graduated from lessons, and was ready for my next step, which I decided was learning another instrument: guitar! It could be just as challenging, but I needed more encouragement. “Just wait, it will pay off eventually” people would tell me. I had moments of excitement, but they felt like exceptions. Deep down, I truly was waiting for it to start to “click,” as drumming once had.

I admit, part of the problem was learning drums first. It gave me a set of expectations (if you ever want to get into music, you have to know drums are a different beast from anything else. Have that expectation clear in your mind.) But part of it was the fact that I never nurtured the passion. I didn’t learn songs I liked, I learned songs that would be difficult, that would make me better. I was marching in strides, but all those strides were in the wrong direction. 

When you first start a fire, it’s a tender little munchkin. Anyone that has ever tried to start one knows that you have to blow on it just the right amount. Too much, and it goes out, leave it alone and it goes out. I think a similar thing is true with passion. Too much time with something, and we burn out. Too little, and we don’t get that early win that we desperately need to get excited about what we are doing. If you don’t find some sort of success early, you may give up and never come back. Call it natural, call it lazy, whatever it is, it’s human. Our enjoyment of things can be finicky. It’s why we stress the importance of first impressions. They’re not permanent, but they can be detrimental. We need people to take that first step towards us, to see that we will be an asset to them, not a liability. We need them to see that we are worth the initial commitment. 

I hope you can learn to start taking the first steps in your journey. Maybe you have big dreams, maybe you live in your nightmares. I pray that this sparks you to take the first step. After all, the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. 

Until next time

Cheers!