I learned a new phrase this week: Pole', Pole'. (po-lay)
My friend Paul was telling a group of us about his climb up Mount Kilimanjaro. The group he was with was led and instructed by a couple Swahili guides. They explained that in order to reach the summit, they must travel "pole' pole'" - or slowly & carefully, step by step. It's easy to imagine having to climb an extreme mountain slowly & carefully, step by step, but is that really how we tend to face everyday life?
This summer my daughter and I set out to walk across America. The number one question asked was, "How can you do that?" There was only one answer I could give. One step at a time. You see, to me, it didn't matter how far we went each day. That wasn't our goal. Our goal was to talk to people and share our lives with them as we traveled. So, if we walked 13 miles, great! If not, I knew we could talk to those around us, accomplishing the primary goal. I knew that each step we took would take us a step closer to the goal.
Life is like any walk or any climb we take. The only way we can accomplish what we set out to do is by taking things one step at a time, pole' pole'. No matter what we have our eyes set upon, there are steps necessary to get there. One step of encouragement may include treasure mapping - visualizing what it is that we want. What does it look like? How is is going to feel? Who can help us accomplish the goal?
Find pictures to help you identify what it is that you are seeking after. Keep the ideas in front of you - be sure the ultimate goal is the center point or focal point of the collage. Set it up in a way that you can see the milestones. How will you celebrate the little accomplishments on the way there?
Pole' pole', my friends! What will your next defining adventure be? I'd love to hear about it!
One step at a time is certainly a road map to success.
ReplyDeleteAnd, you walked across the country? That's cool!
We walked across three states and biked one. Not quite what we expected, but it was a great trip nonetheless - and one that we consider successful even though we didn't meet the distance goal we set.
DeleteMy daughter's valve stem broke in Shreveport, causing her to fall and break her arm, but the worst was the concussion she sustained even though she wore a helmet. You can read about it on our website: www.cloudandpillar.com Pictures can be found on facebook: www.facebook.com/cloudandpillar
Did you write about your walk. I would lot to hear your story.
ReplyDeleteI did write about our walk and hope to write a book about it soon too. We did not make it all the way across the country. We did walk across GA, AL, and MS. Then we biked across LA. My daughter's valve stem broke in Shreveport, causing her to fall and break her arm, but the worst was the concussion she sustained even though she wore a helmet. You can read about it on our website: www.cloudandpillar.com Pictures can be found on facebook: www.facebook.com/cloudandpillar
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