The smallest step

Sometimes the only way to start something is to figure out the smallest step you can take right now...

The first thing I heard was the sound of the rain pounding on my window.  It's still dark outside.  My comforter is a snuggly cocoon.  About a thousand different reasons come to mind for burrowing deeper and staying in bed.  But...one thought elbows its way to the front of the line...commitment.  You made a commitment - what's your commitment worth?  Before I could pummel this voice into submission, I found myself answering "a lot - let's do this."  I'm not a morning person (this is an understatement), nor am I a runner by nature, so I asked myself - "what's the smallest thing I can do right now towards my goal?"  Put one foot on the floor.  OK - I can do that.

Thump.  One foot hits the floor (the rest of me still under the blankets).  Thump - second foot.  How long can I keep these blankets on and pretend I'm going back to sleep?  Maybe I can send my bottom half out running while my top half stays in bed? 

I keep asking myself "now what's the smallest thing you can do?"  Open eyes half way.  Turn on some music.  Put on one sock.  Put on the other.  One by one I focused on the smallness of each next step.  Honestly, I was more surprised than anyone to find myself outside and running within about 20 minutes.  Once I was out there, I hit my stride and was like "hell yeah!  I'm runnin' in the rain!  I kick ass...whoohoo!" (Well, until I got scared by the deer in the road...then I kind of lost my cool exterior.)

But the biggest thing I did this morning was to take that first small step.  After that, the chances of me turning back diminished significantly.

Is there something you've been putting off doing?  Some project that seems daunting?  Try to think of the smallest possible step you can take to move it forward...you might be surprised where it takes you.