The alarm clock just gave its sound of a new day. How do you feel? Did you smile and are grateful for another wonderful day! You can’t wait to get to your business and do that thing you love! Or, did you hear the alarm, hit the snooze button, (maybe a few times), put the pillow over your head and just thought, ‘I truly would love to just stay here, because I don’t want to deal with day’.
If you are an entrepreneur or business person, you may have had this second emotion at least once. I have…many times! However, I found new inspiration to never give up. Allow me to share the story with you.
Recently, my husband and I were on a Caribbean cruise and on this morning, we were in the gym walking on treadmills. Now, if you haven’t had the pleasure of being on a cruise, your view, while doing this is looking out over the ocean where you are heading to. Also in front of us, out the window is an outdoor walking track that goes around the boat. So, while enjoying the moment of the ocean view, a gentleman, who was in his 80’s and a veteran, was walking that track with is walker. The track, per loop is about a three quarters of a mile long. Now, he wasn’t winning any races and, was the tortoise in the ‘Tortoise and the Hare’. I said to my husband, “Wow, look at him, that is amazing”. He looked up from his book and said, “Yes, guess we don’t have any excuses”. Well you may think the story ends here, because alone that is impressive and, by the way, he didn’t do just one lap!!!!
The next day, I chose the walking track for my step count and sun! Who did I come upon, this Veteran gentleman and he was doing it again. Except, this time I noticed something that made what he was doing even more amazing, he also had a prosthetic leg. Now add it up, age, walker, leg! When coming upon him, I leaned in and said to him: “You are amazing”. He looked up, gently smiled and said: “I am just trying”.
As I kept walking, my thoughts went to: ‘Just trying! You are winning! You are the Tortoise and I feel like the Hare, you can teach me so much!’ Every step he took was such an effort and isn’t that how we feel in our business! Everything step can be, at times, more than we think we can do. However, like this veteran, when we take them, it gets us one step closer to the goals we want to achieve. Because it isn’t about the step, it is about the fact we took it!
So, next time you hit that ‘bump’ in the road think of this gentleman! May he take up some ‘rental space’ in your mind! No matter what you have in front of you it isn’t bigger than the one step you need to take.
Please let me know who or what inspires you to keep going. I would love to hear!