“Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.” — Martin Luther King, Jr.
Without exception when we become wholly conscious in any given moment, we reach a point in time where the risk of taking that next step into the unknown is paralyzing beyond imagination. We’ve all been there. The resolution for many was sometimes taking incredible detours, ending up years later in the same place with different circumstances, but facing the same paralyzing, unforgiving, frightening issues that confound our ability to take that first step toward the unknown. What is it that makes some individuals take that leap of faith . . . jumping into an abyss of uncertainty and instability? Martin Luther King, Jr. we know called it faith . . . and Sir Winston Churchill called it something else with these words, “The power of man has grown in every sphere, except over himself.”
We are all going through this life’s journey at different speeds, and our awakening is timed to the consciousness of our awareness and presence in the moment. You can spell it, say it, frame it or explain it in whatever manner or way you choose, and still arrive where you began . . . with yourself. Unless and until you really figure out who you are, why you’re here and what that means . . . the rest is rehearsal. Excavating who you really are, and what you are really about frightens most people. Why? What would you discover about yourself, that you wouldn’t wish to know? Perhaps . . . for the first time . . . the truth. There are individuals who have done an extraordinary amount of introspection, and taken the time to work on themselves. In the words of Henry David Thoreau . . . “I love to be alone, I never found the companion that was so companionable as solitude.” Let’s be honest . . . it takes courage to entertain the companion of solitude, and enjoy the experience.
Wherever you are now in this process we call life, can be overflowing with the unending busyness of electronics, technologies, meetings, schedules, conferences, family, friends, relationships and on, and on, and on . . . one thing substitutes for another and the treadmill continues. You don’t disengage yourself until one day . . . it all changes and something grabs your attention. For each of us, it is different . . . usually. The timing is never expected, but sometimes shocking. When we’ve taken the time to recognize who we are, and why we’re here through consciously entertaining the companion of solitude, and willingly accept what has been revealed to us, then and only then will we have the sustained faith, courage, awareness and truth to take the next step. It won’t be something that is terrifying to our existence or recognized as psycho-babble in some circles , rather understood as Albert Einstein stated with this quote . . . “Sometimes I think I understand everything, then I gain consciousness.” That first step illuminates the staircase . . . taking you from Conscious Mediocrity to Mastery. JLR