Baby Steps  

Baby Steps are immeasurable according to the Theory of Irrelativity.  Their measure includes added volume and weight that an ordinary distance cannot carry.  Sometimes the very smallest of steps in the right direction are enough to cancel out those giant steps that you feel were taken in less-desirable directions.  And these redeeming baby steps can end up being the biggest steps of your life.  Why?  Because you are honoring you, your preferences, and your well being.  There is nothing that says I love you, little ol’ Self like taking a baby step in the right direction.

My affirmation last month was one that surprised me.  It wasn’t prompted by any particular incident, writing, or reading.  It was like my Higher Self spoke to me in the plainest of terms in a louder-than-usual voice:

“I am brave enough to love myself.”  

This affirmation left a water mark, as I don’t believe that I have ever linked bravery to self-love.  In hindsight, I am guessing that I have always associated self-love with acts, rewards, success, attitude, generosity, earned deserved-ness . . . but not bravery.

As the month passed and I repeated my affirmation, I began to see how being brave could make a big difference in how I honor my preferences, my priorities, and my choices.

By being brave, I put myself forward into an Unknown that I intuitively trust.  And I take baby steps.  

And these baby steps do not feel like they are taking me in any linear path that can be measured in mileage, hours, or dollar signs.  They are taking me in an upward spiral that condenses the journey into a tightly-coiled experience that I can now see resembles what we call life.

I used to think of my stand-out memories in terms of fence posts.  I go through life with my tool belt and my wire . . . stringing wire until I reach the next fence post that snags my memory’s attention.  I pause while I attach the wire and then start walking toward some mysterious and unknown fence post that will make itself known in some splashy manner.

Now?  I am no longer thinking in such linear terms.  The spiral that this shell represents in this image is taking me on a different kind of journey that, rather than leading me away from anything, is leading me upward and closer on a tighter and tighter spiral.

“We have already climbed many steps . . .” Herman Hesse is right: It does indeed feel like I have already climbed many steps . . . but when I take a step off the spiral and take a good look and pause to reflect . . . it does look like there has definitely been some elevation gain — which explains so many things.  No wonder I get tired, out of breath, discouraged, and fatigued sometimes.  I am only human and this is the only life that I have.  Rather than thinking of life being on some kind of vertical timeline, I am shifting my symbol-delegating thoughts to something that has motion, elevation, and beauty: a spiraling shell.  “We are not going in circles, we are going upwards.”

My new affirmation for this month?

I am brave enough to spiral upward.