Today’s MOZEN: Steps

In an effort to maintain some decent aerobic fitness, especially during a harsh winter like this one when walking outside becomes more difficult, instead of taking the elevator, I climb the 5 flights of stairs to my duties at the CBS Broadcast Center on W57th St. in Manhattan. If you are at all familiar with that building then you know how massive it is — so, the stairways are equally impressive, i.e. long and steep.

And, for some reason, the set of stairs from the ground level to the first floor seem to go on for ever. In fact, when I look at them from bottom to top, they can be downright intimidating, especially considering it’s just the first flight of 5!!

So, I don’t look at it that way.

Instead of facing the journey in total, I focus on one step at a time — literally. From the beginning, I keep my eyes and concentration on ascending just one before I precede to the next, then the next, and so on and so forth, never looking up until I reach my final destination. It’s as if each step is its own, separate journey.

At the end, I may be huffing and puffing but I have accomplished my mission — and, I feel damned good about it, too.

I try to use this as a metaphor for how to approach life.

Sometimes, it all seems so big. Things come at us with an ever increasing pace so that we can become overwhelmed. We are concerned about our jobs, our relationships, health, and overall well-being, etc. If we try to deal with them collectively, we often get bogged down to the point where nothing actually gets done. Now, if can take on our challenges one at a time, it is much more feasible to accomplish our chosen goal.

The concept of one step at a time is incorporated by others, such as Alcoholics Anonymous (i.e. The Twelve Step Program), to help people deal with issues that previously overwhelmed them, causing great harm to themselves and others. However, this philosophy shouldn’t be used only in times of great stress but, rather, in everyday life, for the simplest tasks — one foot before the other, one step at a time, each second separate from the rest.

And, before you know it, you’re at your destination.