When I was a girl, lots of my family holidays were to Southern Ireland.
My Mum was Irish, so every summer we would return to Ireland to visit her family.
One of my fondest memories was playing with my siblings and cousins on the river which ran through my Mum’s hometown.
It wasn’t a wide river, so there were stepping stones crossing from one side to the other.
In equal parts, I was both terrified and excited by those stepping stones.
I really, really wanted to cross them, like everyone else, but I only had little legs and they seemed sooo far apart.
If there was a strong breeze or there’d been recent rainfall, the river would flow really fast, almost covering the stones.
Although I could swim, I was petrified that I’d be swept downstream with the current and never seen again.
I was the youngest of the group, and while everyone else was happily skipping from one side of the river to the other, I just stood on the bank, deliberating.
I felt like a baby…a scaredy cat…a chicken – but those stepping stones were just sooo wide apart and looked very slippery.
My older brother kept giving me a prod and a shove, but I wasn’t having any of it.
I spent a whole holiday on that river bank, looking longingly over to the other side.
But I never went for it.
As we left for home at the end of the holiday, I felt like I’d let myself down.
I felt like a failure….a coward.
Right there and then, I made a promise to myself, that the very next time I had the opportunity; I was going to go for it.
Fast forward a year.
We were back in Ireland.
Siblings…cousins…river bank…stepping stones.
I still only had little legs, but I had grown (ever so slightly).
On the very first morning, I got my swimming costume on and I marched down to that river.
It was flowing fast and high…
But I was determined.
I’d been thinking about this all year, and nothing was going to stop me.
Without even thinking about it, I skipped right across those stepping stones, from one side to the other…just like I’d watched my siblings and cousins do so many times before.
When I got to the other side, I turned around triumphant; only to see my gang of assorted family going berserk in celebration.
I had never felt more elated in my whole 8 years.
And I never looked back…
Trotting across those stones like a natural from then on.
I returned home from that holiday feeling 10 feet tall. (I was actually about 3 foot 6).
I learned a very important lesson that day.
No matter how terrified you are.
No matter how little your legs are.
No matter how fast the river is flowing.
If you’re determined enough, you can do anything.
And I still really, really believe that.
I sometimes share this little anecdote with clients, when they’re teetering on the edge of something.
When they’re scared of doing something that would mean so much to them.
How about you?
What’s the one thing you could do, that would make you feel euphoric?
What have you been holding yourself back from?
The magic always happens outside your comfort zone.
It’s a cliché, but it’s true.
Step out of your comfort zone, and achieve something that you believed impossible for you and you’ll feel on top of the world.
Stay inside your comfort zone, and you’ll feel safe…but blah.
If you were to die tonight (God forbid) would you die happy?
Or is there some action you need to take?
Something you’ve been putting off, that would make a vital difference to you and your happiness?
We only get one life…don’t waste it by standing on your river bank, deliberating.
I use the stepping stones analogy in another way too.
To demonstrate that strength grows in increments.
And progress is generally made in stages.
If you imagine that one of the river banks is the pain side (anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, low income, no love etc) and the other river bank is the pleasure side (happiness, fulfilment, peace of mind, true love, success).
We can’t always go from one side straight over to the other one.
We have to make our way across each stepping stone.
So we do a little work, we make some progress and we can move onto stepping stone 1.
We find our balance, we do a little more work, we progress a bit further and we can move onto stepping stone 2.
And so on and so on…
As long as we keep making progress, even a little at a time, we’ll get to the pleasure side.
You can apply this analogy to anything.
Anything at all.
If every relationship, job, home or income level teaches you something, and is better than the last one, you are gradually crossing the stepping stones and you’ll eventually reach the pleasure zone.
You can even use this for your mental, physical and emotional health.
Just keep making steady progress.
Occasionally you might have to stay on a certain stepping stone for a while, but that’s ok.
The increments are not always equal.
Just keep the pleasure zone in your sights, keep those feet moving, keep gaining in wisdom and you’ll get there.
Some people can make a quantum leap – jumping right over the river, to the other side.
And that’s amazing.
But you have to be careful.
Unless you’re balanced and stable on the other side, you’ll fall back into the river.
Are you ready to take the first step to your happiness, success or love with me as your guide?
Then take a look at my product page here
Much Love
Christina xx
(Champion stepping-stones crosser)
P.S If I’m out and about now and see some stepping stones, I just have to cross them and get to the happy side. Why don’t you do the same?