Step, Yes! Step, No!

I still remember when I was a child and playing this traditional Filipino games, "piko" (hopscotch) and "Step, Yes-Step, No."  Similarly, the player must be very careful not to step on the lines drawn in the soil.  You hop either with a leg or both but you have to do it as fast as you can.  Once one start "hopping", he/she should complete it going forward and back without committing any mistake.
The games never whispered anything significant to my life back then.  I was just an ordinary kid trying to take advantage of the allotted time for playing before my mother, aunties and grandmother call me back home to sit in my room and do my homeworks.
Some questions popped up on my mind just few days ago - on my 32nd birthday. What have I completed so far - from all the items I have written on my "Bucket List" (a very good movie by the way)?  Am I always stepping on the line that compels me to stop and wait for another turn?  As I grow older, the list becomes longer, yet, nothing has been crossed nor marked "done".  When will I start and make every aspiration, every target, every dream happen?
Tough questions, but the answer to each one is simple - take the first move, the first step, and go on... be less calculating, be more focus, have more faith in yourself and in God.
I was scanning the book [Don't Sweat the Small Stuff, Omnibus Edition] again and my attention was caught by one of the titles.  It goes like this... "Remember That the Journey of a Thousand Miles Begins with a Single Step".
Interesting?  Let me share it with you:

Remember That the Journey of a Thousand Miles Begins with a Single Step
- by Richard Carlson

I can vividly remember the first sentence I ever wrote in my very first book! It seems like a long time ago.  Yet had I not written that first sentence, I wouldn't have finished that first book, or the second and so on.  And so it goes.  Every journey, however long it may be, begins with a single step.  But you must take that first step.  Once you do, each step takes you closer and closer to your goal.
Sometimes, when you consider taking on a new venture-whether it's raising a child, writing a book, starting a new business, beginning a savings plan, or anything else-the task can seem overwhelming.  It's as though you'll never be able to arrive at your final destination, as if the first step isn't going to help. When you look too far out toward the horizon, it can seem too difficult.  You might even wonder where to begin.
The trick to success sounds very simplistic, becuase it is very simple:  Just begin.  Take a single step, followed by another, and then another.  Don't look too far out into the future, and don't look too far back either.  Stay centered in the present moment as best you can.  If you follow this simple plan, you'll be amazed at what you can accomplish over time.
When I graduated from Ph.D program, my dear friend Marvin gave me, as a gift, the complete works of Carl Jung.  That's twenty-six long volumes of material.  In volume one was a note from Marvin worth sharing here.  He wrote:  "Becoming educated doesn't happen overnight! Education is a lifelong process that happens in short intervals.  If you were to read only eight pages a day, for the next seven years, you would be one of the 
world's most knowledgeable experts on the work of Carl Jung, and you would get through every page!"  Despite not being a huge fan of Jung, I have always appreciated my friend's message.
The same, of course, is true with all ventures.  A wealthy friend of mine, worth many millions of dollars, remembers opening his first savings account with his wife over forty years ago with $10.  They both laugh when they say, "It's amazing what a little time will do."  Had they not decided to start somewhere, their incredible success would never have manifested itself.
Over and over again I hear people telling me about the book they are going to write, the savings account they are about to open, the business they are going to start., or the charity they are planning to help.  But in many instances, these plans and dreams keep getting put off until "the conditions are right." One of the most powerful messages I can share with you, one that I'm absolutely certain of, is this:  In almost all cases, the conditions you are waiting for will not be significantly different next week or next year.  Don't worry that the conditions have to be perfect.  The truth is, you are still going to take that first step!  If you take it now, instead of later, you'll be many steps closer to your dreams by this time next year.  Congratulations, you've just taken the first step in the completion of this book.






Napoleon Hill's Classic: Think and Grow Rich - Complete and Unabridged on 8 Audiotape Cassettes, Plus Hard Cover Book, in Case (Audiobook)