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This is the third of four January posts by Amber Strocel of Strocel.com.
In my previous posts I’ve talked about how I’m seeking manageability, and how my life doesn’t always reflect my priorities. My thought is that if I make small changes to bring my life more in line with my values, it will also feel more manageable. But how do I go about making changes?
Every weekday I walk my daughter to kindergarten and back. That walk has become something of a metaphor for implementing change, in my mind.
My daughter’s school is located at the top of a hill, about a 10-minute walk from our house. The first two-thirds of the walk are level, and then for the last third the road rises steeply. In addition to my daughter, I also have my toddler-aged son along, and I’m pushing him in a stroller. Inevitably, whether it’s drop-off or pick-up, I’m running a little late, and doing my best to hurry.
At first, my impulse was to start out fast. I would run down my driveway and down the block. But pretty soon I ran out of energy. Before I was even out of sight of my house, I was huffing and puffing and I’d have to stop to catch my breath. Then I’d set off at top speed again, but I’d have to stop even sooner. By the time I got to the hill, I was crawling along, gasping all the way.
As I make changes in my life, my first impulse is the same as on my walk — I start out at breakneck speed. I take on a lot of change at one time, ambitiously attempting a full-scale overhaul of every little part of my life. But when I do that, I quickly lose steam. By the time I hit the difficult part — the metaphorical uphill climb — I am pretty much ready to just throw in the towel altogether.
I’ve found that it’s much more effective, in life and in my walk, to find a sustainable pace and keep with it. If I gradually build up my speed I am much less likely to find myself gasping for air. I am able to keep it up and make actual progress. When the hills come, I have energy left to climb them. Plus, it turns out that maintaining a steady pace is actually faster in the long run — it’s how the tortoise beat the hare, after all.
At this stage in my life, I’m finally learning to give up my impulse to set off all willy-nilly. I take on small changes, in manageable pieces. I don’t beat myself up if it takes me a while to get where I’m going. After all, the real point in life is the journey, not the destination. We may as well set a leisurely pace and enjoy the walk.
Amber is a crunchy granola mom of two and wife of one. She lives in suburban Vancouver, where she eats a lot of chocolate. Follow her adventures on her blog at Strocel.com, or learn about her course on living with intention at Crafting my Life. Follow @AmberStrocel on Twitter.