Woo Hoo! I get a pony! (Just kidding. I no longer want a petting zoo in my backyard. But I will knock over a toddler to get to the ponies at every other petting zoo I encounter.)
One Step at a Time
Before I started my thru-hike, I devised a comprehensive itinerary where I broke my 2,189 mile long flip-flop hike down into roughly 50 to 100 mile sections. There were 34 of those sections.
I like to kid myself sometimes that I've got it all under control and that I know how things will work out. Tee hee.
When I got to Bland, Virginia, almost 100 miles, and two itinerary sections, in, I was ahead of schedule. I was feeling pretty high at that moment.
Then I made the mistake of pulling out my itinerary and looking ahead. At the next 32 sections. The feeling of overwhelm in that moment popped my balloon so hard they probably felt the tremors on Katahdin.
I was so deflated.
I dunked that itinerary into the next trash can I found and marched on, choosing, instead to be oblivious and keep putting one foot in front of the other.
Those steps have added up to 1,800 miles so far. The itinerary took care of itself.
I remember getting to Maine and thinking, "Oh my God, I walked here. From Virginia! How did that happen?"
It happened one step at a time.
This past month I've been adding up some different steps, steps with no white blazes to guide me and with no clear destination. I just know I need to keep taking the steps, one at a time.
It's kind of like long distance hiking to me. There's no end in sight. One month, like one particular trail, may end, but it will be followed by another month. Another trail. It never really ends, so there's just one thing to do. Keep going.
Keep putting one foot in front of the other. Keep putting one sketch in front of another. Keep putting Xs in the boxes and let the itinerary take care of itself.
I've gotten to the end of a month where I've progressed a little each day. I'm feeling pretty high about that. And nothing, not even the lack of a clear destination, will pop my bubble.
I'm just going to keep taking it one step at a time.
I got the calendar from Austin Kleon. He gives them away for free right here.