Soul Blossoming A to Z: T is for Take one small step

Take one small step: The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. (Lao Tzu)

Welcome to Soul Blossoming A to Z

Come and join me for a cup of

or–

as we continue through the a to z challenge. Here’s a recipe for weed tea for you.

What do you want to do–take one small step in that direction

I have so many things that I want to do–and as I get older, a growing awareness of what a limited time we have here on earth. I’ve trained myself to take one small step–and remember that they add up, especially if I’m consistent and do something every day or even less often (but it helps to have some kind of regular rhythm).

Here’s a link to a summary of a book on my to-read list: One Small Step Can Change Your Life: The Kaizen Way by Robert Maurer, Ph.D. (My right-brain business planning buddies recommend this book! I checked it out on Hoopla, though, so will get to it soon–I think.). His idea is to take really tiny steps. That way, we get past our fight, flight, or freeze response. I can definitely relate to this. Sometimes, the things I most want to do scare me. I’m not sure why, but the idea of something as simple as making a sketch or inviting someone over for dinner can completely stop me in my tracks. Not always, of course. And for me, things like the A to Z challenge or Inktober–or taking a class–can help me to get unstuck.

This morning, I had a lot of indexing work to do before going to my part-time job in the afternoon. But I gave myself permission to spend just a few minutes working on a painting I started a week or so ago. I had a couple of specific things in mind as next steps and ended up spending about 20 minutes painting. It wasn’t much, but if I can spend that much time every day–or even every other day–it will get done in another week or two.

In the Kaizen book, he suggests even just picking up one paper clip as a small step towards cleaning up your desk. He also suggests asking ourselves questions–what is the smallest step I can take to (fill in the blank).

When I first moved (a little over a month ago!) and got my stuff, I spent one day setting up my drafting table, another finding my paints, another organizing them–it took a few days before I got around to painting, but I did it! As I said, I haven’t read the book yet, but I am a big fan of taking small steps. Over a week or a month or a year, a little step every day can take us far.

Just move one little petal today and another tomorrow–that’s one way to blossom!

Thanks for stopping by! xoxo