Take The First Step

This is one of those days where I struggle, staring at a blank screen with a blinking cursor, trying to come up with something to share with all of you. I think about the subjects I could write about and then throw them out one by one, either because I have already written about them or because I don't know what to write about them. There is nothing more difficult for a writer than having nothing to write. When this happens, I just start writing. Sometimes, this writing ends up being good and other times it does not. Either way, once the words start flowing, I find it a little easier to keep them coming.

I know I have written about starting a couple of times and incorporated it in to some other recent posts, but I can not stress the importance enough. Once you start moving, it is easier to keep moving. Once you start writing, it is easier to keep writing. The same is true with losing weight, saving money, eating healthier, cooking more, reading more...pretty much anything you want to do is easier once you get started. The hardest part is going from stopped to starting. It can also be hard to continue moving, but not nearly as hard as starting.

Once you start, there will still be fears and there will still be excuses, but these are much easier to ignore when you are moving. Once you get a little momentum, the drive to continue is always there. It won't be easy, but it will be easier. For most of us, we need that little push, the nudge, to get started, but like a stone rolling down a hill...the littlest nudge can keep us going for quite a while. No matter what it is you want to do, just start. Don't worry about having everything planned or knowing everything you are going to do. You can decide this once you start moving. If you are waiting for the perfect time, then start now. There is no time like the present to do something new and different.

The finish line rarely matters, except in races. Even then, it is often not important to anyone other than the winner. For everything we are going to do, the start is the most important part. Once we start, our life begins to take a new direction, one where aren't quite sure what will happen. We don't know what is to come, only what we want to come. Don't worry about the finish or even what will come next...these are all things you can figure out once you start moving.

Starting can be hard. It can be scary. Sometimes, you have no clue what you are doing. Sometimes, like my writing today, you don't know for sure where it is going to take you until you get there. But, once you start, you can make choices and steer in the directions you want to go. Anything you want to do, no matter how crazy or out of reach you think it is, begins with the start. Take the first step, make the first move, write the first word and just see what happens. You only get one shot at life; don't waste it standing still.