- Kms walked: 1540.25
- Feet of elevation climbed: 208, 833
- Kms driven: 38,933
- Oil changes: 6
- Provinces visited: 10
- Territories visited: 1
- Canadian National Parks: 10
- States visited: 14
- National Parks: 4
- Journals filled: 12
- Joint Journeys blog posts published: 36
- Postcards sent: 87 + 23 Christmas cards
- New friends made: So very, very many!
Do you ever look back? Take the time to add up things that, at the time, may have seemed small and insignificant…but over time, add up to something quite significant? Something big and beautiful??
I mean, all we did this year is put one foot in front of the other…over and over and over. Most of our steps were relatively the same length, most at a similar cadence – except maybe when attempting the climb at Flora Lake or along the Sunshine Coast trail…wow…those trails had zero switchbacks – but when tallied, all those steps really added up! Every step forward, every step up took us up mountains, down into valleys, across flood plains, through rainforests and along lakes and rivers…one step at a time.
I don’t know you personally (or maybe I do? LOL), but maybe you’re one of my “green thumb” heroes who rescue plants…you know the plants I mean…the scraggly ones at the back of the end of season rack for a whopping $0.75!! And somehow, after months of nurturing these wee saplings, you have a very random, but thriving, collection of plants. Each of those days mattered. Every act of care. Every bit of fresh soil. Every ray of sunshine. Every drop of water.
Or maybe you’re a collector? That unique, colourful stamp affixed to a handwritten letter you received from your aunt when she lived in Sri Lanka for a few years, caught your eye, and now your collection of rare and unique stamps number in the hundreds. Small. 1×1 treasures. The intention and time it took to recognize, research, and collect…each a small expression of interest. Now pages of value and significance.
Or maybe…you wake up every day and fight the overwhelming urge to stay in bed…because the day just seems too big, too overwhelming, too much to handle. And maybe, once you’ve won that battle, another awaits, and another…and another. And somehow…you find the incredible strength, motivation, the will to take on each of these feelings and emotions and choose to do the impossible…to keep on keeping on.
You show up to your appointments. You do your blood work. You take your meds. You assess your joints. You respond to the signals your body is sending. You rest. You manage your pain. You maintain regular activity. You ask for help.
Not once, but over and over and over.
Day after day.
Month after month.
Year after year.
When you look at each act, each activity, each purposeful action, they might not seem like much…but when you put them all together…when you take a minute to look back and collect the effort, the intentions, the small things you did to maintain your health, your wellness…
You climbed mountains!!
You crossed powerful, flowing rivers!!
You got yourself to where you are today.
And that. That is worth recognition. That is worth another step!
I’m only 5’3.5” (the half inch matters! LOL) so my steps are small. But they add up. And so do yours.
So, from one small-stepper to another…a great big HIGH-5 from me to you, for all the ways you take steps in your life.
Keep going.
One step at a time…
Carrie
person with rheumatoid arthritis