Just take one more step

I give my fair share of speeches and presentations to various groups.  My favorite presentation to give is titled "What 3 Days and 60 miles taught me".  It's simply about what completing the 3Day taught me about myself.  So I thought I'd share some of these lessons here on the blog. 

As we fight the winter blahs here in the Midwest and return to work after our holiday breaks, the lesson that comes to mind is, "Just take one more step."  My feet blistered horribly during my first 3Day teaching me another lesson about socks, but we'll get to that later.  I'll admit there were moments where I was talking myself into taking the next step.  My feet hurt!  But I took one step, then another, then another and it all came together. 

I'm reminded of that this morning as we're headed back to work (no one in my house is overjoyed by this) and realize that sometimes you just have to put one foot in front of the other.  I don't have to have it all figured out.  I've created my plan, I've put the plan in place and now I'm taking one step at a time to execute it.  Often we get so concerned about crossing the finish line that we forget about the individual steps we take. 

Training for my first 3Day I would often visualize crossing the finish line & what it would feel like to complete this monumental task in my life.  Don't get me wrong, that moment was incredible.  Surprisingly, it wasn't my favorite part.   My favorite moment probably came when I walked with a woman I didn't know who was struggling on Day 3 as bad as I was.  We began walking together and talking and taking our minds off of the pain.  Every time one of us would wince, the other would say "just one more step.  just take one more step".  Funny that I don't even know her name and barely remember her face.  What I know is that a year and half later, I recall that mile we walk together with tears in my eyes.  On a bad day or a day where I lack motivation, I think of her and take just one more step.