One step at a time

 "There's a view of the mountains from the top!" my friend called back to me. I had paused mid-way up the steep slope to snap a picture - but also to catch my breath. 

It was a beautiful mid-winter day, just perfect for cross country skiing.  Although it was snowing just minutes before, the skies were clearing and the sun shone brightly. 

After two miles of skiing, a hill loomed near the end of our trail.  "On my way!" I called back to her and started my climb again, sliding each ski forward purposefully.

"You'll get there, one step at a time," I reminded myself mentally and had to smile.  The slope wasn't that hard, but this is the mantra I use to get myself through many tough situations in life.  "If you just keep going - you'll make it eventually."

It all started when I was about six years old, and my father had a trapline in Northwestern Ontario.  This was back in the days when people actually walked their traplines - no fancy snow machines! Our whole family would sometimes go along with him on a shorter trail.  I was the youngest of the three sisters, and often the whiny one, who wanted everyone else to carry me or pull me on a sled.  My mom would try to motivate me by pointing out that my sisters were far ahead with our dad, and sometimes I'd take off running to catch up. 

But mostly - I would just fuss that I would never make it and someone needed to carry me or I would just die of exhaustion on the trail.  Then she would tell me that the only way to get home was one step at a time.  

"Don't think about how far it is," she would say, "just take the next step, and then the next one. Pretty soon, you will find that you're there!" 

Over the next few years of my life, I struggled with learning. Elementary school was difficult for me, and I wept my way through many nights of homework, complaining "I can't do it!" The process seemed too hard. Finding answers was too overwhelming.

 "Just do one at a time," my mom would encourage me.  (probably through gritted teeth - I was not an easy child!) 

Eventually, things got easier and I made my way through college to become an elementary teacher.  Teaching students who struggle is so fulfilling. To be a voice that says, "You can make it.  Just take the next step...and then the next one.  Don't give up, pretty soon you'll be there!"  It brings me so much joy to see them learn to persevere through the hard parts, and arrive at the "I've got this!" moment.  

It seems in life that often the thing that gives you the biggest struggle is meant to be your gift. The thing you learn so well that you can pass it on to others. Maybe you have a friend who calls back to you, "Come on, the view is worth it!" or maybe you are the friend who walks beside someone and encourages them to keep going. 

You might be facing a difficult physical struggle, it might be a mundane job that bores you, or a challenge in school.   Sometimes, you just need courage to find your way home.

Whatever struggles or obstacles you face this week, I hope you have another person to slow their pace, walk beside you and assure you - it can be done.  Or a good friend, like mine today, to call back to you that the view is worth it, if you just make it to the top.

Wishing you hope and sunshine for your journey today.

Hannah