These past few months have been.....beautiful! So richly and painfully filled with growth and frustration. But from this journey over the last few months....over the last YEAR really, have taught me that there will ALWAYS be stairs to climb. Sometimes it feels as though we have fallen down quite a few stairs, and for some it is, but on the stairs that I am on, each step forward is a step forward. There was just no guarantee that the steps ahead were made or carved the same as the ones I travelled before. Sometimes the tread is a bit smaller, sometimes the rise is a lot higher, but it is a step....one step....on a big ol' set of stairs :)
Key lessons gleaned from my travels up the stair case...
It's okay to look at your feet from time to time, but after having gone quite a distance, it's time to look up and set your sights on where it is you want to go.
"Where there is no vision [no redemptive revelation of God], the people perish; but he who keeps the law [of God, which includes that of man]--blessed (happy, fortunate, and enviable) is he.~ Proverbs 29:18 AMP
Know where it is you want to go. If you can't set a big goal, then set a small goal. If you can't set small goals, the set an ultimate goal. And if you have no idea, then at least know where it is that you are at and how you would like for it to change....because there is always change in our lives, but it's good to want good changes. And then SEE what that goal looks like for you. Visualize how it looks and feels to realize that goal with you in the picture. And keep in mind, if you only set your sights to the next step, then you can break down how you are getting onto that step into smaller strategies. If you can't see that clearly, then be preapred for the unexpected and know that you will reach that bigger goal (even in a round about way)....it certainly builds your gratitude for those steps along the way ;)
You gotta look up if you want to be sure-footed on the stairs.
It's the funniest thing, but on the step that I am standing, I know I have more confidence in my footing than I did many steps ago. But not only that, I have realized that it's not necessarily about where and how I put my feet, but its about why I put my feet one in front of the other in the first place. Walking has become habit, climbing stairs have become routine, but somehow looking forward tends to be forgotten. What am I focused on? My feet or where I want to be at? Keep your goal (your vision, your desire...) in sight at all times. Keep reminders around you. Refer back to your vision as often as possible. Remind yourself of WHY you wanted to climb these particular stairs in the first place.
Taking the stairs is ALWAYS a workout, but you will be fitter and stronger in the end.
Gotta take those stairs. It is worth it! The staircase I climb is my life. It is complete and I just need to keep going....I appreciate each stair that I have managed to get my foot on. Each stair you step on (whether or not you recall it to be good or bad) has helped you in taking the next step. And knowing that your life is just one step at a time, no matter the pace you take, as long as you are climbing and looking up, you will get to see more than just your feet on the way up. :)
