Steps

"A knowledge of the path cannot be substituted for putting one foot in front of the other," ~ M. C. Richards

If you have ever seen a toddler walk it's easy to see what the action actually entails. Moving from one place to another is simply an act of falling forward and catching oneself with one's lead foot. The toddler walk is the reveal that makes it clear that the "where am I going" is less important than the knowledge that the pursuit of simply continuing to move forward is what is critical.  The toddler doesn't care where he or she is going although they may act like the goal is to stumble into the parent's arms. This is a ruse. We're actually an impediment to the toddler's wish to keep moving at all costs.

The toddler just wants to get there, wherever there is. The joy is in the journey, not the destination, especially since to the toddler there is no destination, just the delight of the progression forward. They WILL stumble. They WILL fall.

And that's where the magic begins. Unless alerted to the danger of falling by overly concerned adults the toddler simply picks herself up and without wondering what the hell just happened to make the floor or Earth come crashing up to their arms, continues on.

We can learn a lot from the toddler. As a grandparent I watched one evening as our granddaughter  continuously walked from our living room to our kitchen and each ... time, stumbled over the small rise in the hard wood floor from the one room to the other. This actually happened the entire evening we were watching her. She would fall, get up, each ... time, and continue on her way. It was both hilarious (she never whimpered) and a lesson to us all.

Keep moving.

Many of the self-help programs that abound for addiction recovery and support for those impacted by addiction talk about steps. You never hear about 12-Destination programs. The point is to continue on, to persevere, to soldier on even if the end game is not in sight or even comprehended. The journey is the thing, the joy of discovery of what ourselves can be if we are only open to the glories of the the unknowns.

The toddler knows this. Everything is new. Everything is there for the taking. Marathoners understand this as well. Yes, we know the final destination, yet every race is different, each with its own challenges, surprises, frustrations and triumphs.

The journey is the thing, and that IS the magic of our continuing exploration of who it is we really are as parents, as human beings. The Addiction may lead us to believe we should be all in for its agenda. It wants us to think we shouldn't stumble and fall, that any shortfall in our travels is a failure, an I told you so moment proving we have no business looking for the next adventure, the vista we never thought attainable.

Like the toddler we can continue on after stumbling, dust ourselves off - or better yet, leave the dust, the muck, the grime on as a reminder that life, the journey, must go on even after the failures. Strong in the knowledge we love our children unconditionally and are ready to step in when THEY are ready, we can keep moving along our journey pathways to the joys The Universe has placed ahead for us.

If we channel our inner toddler our journey becomes new with each step, each slight forward fall. Pick yourself up and go!

. . . keep coming back

"As long as I was falling forward and getting up to fall again, I wouldn't come in last in the race against myself." ~ Ultra Runner, 2018