LIFE’S LESSONS
By Henrylito D. Tacio
“I have learned to live my life one step, one breath, and one moment at a time, but it was a long road. I set out on a journey of love, seeking truth, peace and understanding. I am still learning.” – Muhammad Ali
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“Fast and furious.” That’s from a Hollywood movie that became a box-office phenomenon around the world.
Well, that seems to be what the world is doing now. Everyone wants everything to happen fast. That’s why we now have instant coffee, and instant noodles, and fast food restaurants, among others.
Back then, in school, we had to copy everything that our teachers wrote on the black board. Today, some teachers don’t write anymore; they instead use power presentations in their lectures. If ever a teacher does write, some pupils and students don’t take notes anymore. All they do is take a shot of the board using their mobile phones.
When I was in high school, I had to go to the library if I wanted to do some research. We had to take some notes, and photocopy, if not manually copy, some paragraphs. Students these days don’t do this anymore. They may borrow the book and have it photocopied, or directly take photos of the pages they need. Worse, students don’t even have to go to the library any more. They just google what they want to know, and right then and there, with the click of a button, they may receive what they want to know. And the worst thing is — they don’t even bother to comprehend what they read; instead, they just copy and paste some paragraphs.
In the past, when we wanted to communicate with our loved ones who were working or living abroad, we wrote letters on several pages. We enclosed photos and other things in the letters we sent. If we wanted to relay messages fast, we used telegrams (where we paid per word).
But today, all you have to do is use your mobile phone, and you can talk directly to the person you want to communicate with. If the other person is too busy to take your call, you can always send a text message.
Sending photos is as easy as clicking the photos you want to send, and they are received by the other party in seconds. You can do this by sending the photos through messaging applications, or sending a batch of photos via electronic mail.
Let’s take it slow
Are those things in the past already obsolete?
“Slow and steady wins the race, not the person who wants to climb the whole stairs in one stride,” Michael Bassey Johnson reminds in his The Book of Maxims, Poems and Anecdotes.
Hollywood singer and actor Donny Osmond has the same contention. “If you’re climbing the ladder of life, you go rung by rung, one step at a time,” he said. “Don’t look too far up, set your goals high but take one step at a time. Sometimes you don’t think you’re progressing until you step back and see how high you’ve really gone.”
All of us have dreams: to be an engineer, a teacher, a doctor, or a businessman. It’s easy to dream but finding the motivation to get started is often the hardest part of the journey toward our goals.
Step by step
The secret is not to do things at once. “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step,” said ancient Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu, who’s considered the father of Taoism. What he said is a simple metaphor but a powerful motivator.
Lao Tzu urged us to take the first step toward a goal or journey, no matter how daunting it may seem. “Each one of us has some goal we want to reach, and we must work toward that goal one step at a time. You can’t reach that goal and expect it on the first try,” Sid Luckman explained.
“All your small steps will bring you just a little closer. You must continue to work toward this goal. You may take a few steps back or be at a standstill, but you will be learning from each step,” Luckman added.
Maya Angelou, a well-known poet and civil rights activist, has the same view. “Every great journey starts with a single step,” she wrote in Wouldn’t Take Nothing for My Journey Now.
What she wanted to convey to us is that when we embark on any significant journey – whether personal or professional – we have to take that first step forward. That’s how important taking the first step is.
When you take your first step, do it little by little. As Vincent van Gogh said, “Great things are not done by impulse, but by a series of small things brought together.” Here, the Dutch painter put emphasis on the importance of consistency and the accumulation of small efforts in achieving great things.
Creighton Abrams, however, sees it in a different perspective. “The only way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time,” he said.
What he meant by this metaphor is that for tackling large, complicated tasks or projects, we have to break them down into smaller, more manageable sections. Again, by taking it one step at a time, we can tackle challenging endeavors and ultimately accomplish the envisioned goals.
Now, if you want to accomplish something in your life, take the necessary first step. The rest will just follow.
“Never be in a hurry; do everything quietly and in a calm spirit,” suggested Saint Francis de Sales. “Do not lose your inner peace for anything whatsoever, even if your whole world seems upset.” – ###
