Happy Friday (Saturday) Night (Morning) Love and Light to you! Welcome to another winning week of awesome!
You wouldn’t believe me if I told you half of the stuff that’s going on behind the scenes of my actual life. You wouldn’t believe me because sometimes fact is way stranger than fiction. Sometimes the people around us, (people we may love, people we barely know, people we work with, family, friends, etc.) are so entrenched in their stuff, they wouldn’t know sane behavior if it knocked on their door with a ticker tape parade and a first class ticket to reality. But alas, we’ll digress here. I have a post on such things in the wings, but not this morning. I haven’t slept yet.
I’ve had a whirlwind week. Hell, I’ve had a whirlwind several months and God only knows how I survived it all with at least some peace. Well, that’s not completely true. I kindof know. I have some really dear friends who are awesome and who I am infinitely proud of. I have my faith in something greater than myself, and of course my work. Oh, and I’ve learned a tremendous skill that is useful for times like this. I’ve learned to walk with one foot in front of the other.
Oh ho ho Envy! You’re probably saying. Oh ho ho! We’ve all learned that skill if we walk effectively, yes? Yes. and No. What I speak of is way more existential and airy fairy than just plain walking. It’s a bit literal and metaphorical. Stay with me, will you?
When I first started working in radio, I didn’t have a car. I lived in this really cute townhouse in Levittown, roughly 3 miles away from the nearest regional rail station. I was on Afternoon Drive on the former 100.3 The Beat during that time and had to be at work by 1:30. I also had a burgeoning boutique marketing and promotions firm and celebrity event team–Eye Candy Brand– so money was tight because every dollar that didn’t go toward living expenses, went toward building my dream of that time. So. Instead of calling a car service to take me to and from the train station, I would load up my backpack and my walking shoes and take the 3 mile trek, to be at the train station by 11, so I could be at the radio station by roughly 12:15. Sometimes, I would then do my on air shift and stay as late as was required of me to learn and contribute to my radio family business. If I had an event after work, I would then take the train into the city, do my thang and prayerfully get a ride home by one of my girls or a dear friend. But many, many of those days for a good long while, I walked those three miles to the train and the three miles back from the train after my day at the station was over.
I didn’t advertise this, of course. Radio at the time was a little more flossy in theory back then, so I just did what I had to do to get where I needed to go and chalked it up to staying in shape through the process. Dear friends and even my parents would ask me how I did it every day. Sometimes super early and sometimes in the dead of night. How did I make myself walk all those miles back and forth and not feel sorry for myself. I would always tell them, “one foot in front of the other”.
I did eventually get a car and all of my hard work paid off in some regards. I never quite made it to flossy proper, but I did good as far I was concerned. But I never, ever forgot those walks to the train to live out a part of my dream. I never forgot what it felt like to be tired and cold in the dead of winter with the icy wind whipping at my face and the tears of exhaustion I cried when I was just that tired. I never forgot what my sneakers sounded like when they hugged and released the pavement. What one foot in front of the other sounded like. Those were some long walks, but I always understood that with every step, I was closer to where I was going.
Every now and again, if I happen to take the train into the city, I’ll purposefully walk to and/or from the station. It’s just a thing that hits me. I usually don’t have on sensible shoes and I’m more than likely carrying a bag that’s way too heavy. But I’ll walk, just to remind myself of what it feels like to have a long way to go and know that with every step, no matter how unpleasant, is still important to the journey. I always arrive happy. Relieved. At peace. I always arrive in a better mood than when I started. Even tired. Because the pavement and I payed our dues together. The pavement was one of my most masterful teachers. The pavement taught me how to get places, one foot in front of the other.
I share this today because when I was talking with a group of aspiring self-branding moguls earlier this week, I shared a bit of that story. I also shared a bit of advice that I learned during one of my darkest moments: Nothing is the path to everything. It doesn’t matter who you are or what you have or what you want your life to be. It doesn’t even matter how many times you’ve had to start over. It is from seemingly nothing that you learn everything is possible. Baby steps is all that is required to get someplace you want to go. Just take a step and your journey of a thousand miles is not only possible, it’s a few steps closer to accomplishment. One foot in front of the other. #YO.
So. That’s what I learned this week. I do hope it helps something. Thank you for reading this (!!!) Remember always to #RuleYoSelf with L.O.V.E. Have a Happy Awesome Weekend! Love you madly!
Osho Lovianhal,
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