One Bite at a Time

Isn't it funny how sometimes life seems to fly by? I had my regular six-months dental cleaning yesterday, and I felt like my hygienist had just warned me yesterday to only buy regular toothpaste - no whiteners, no tartar control, no fancy polishing effects, etc. (I have sensitive teeth, so she's on me about sticking to the basics and steering clear of unnecessary chemicals! P.S. Even my dentist said that regular toothpaste is the best - if you're going for inexpensive products like me, you can even go for the store brand - it's the same stuff as Crest, etc.!)

Anyway, where have the last six months gone?

Isn't it also funny how changing can be so hard? And, isn't it [quite] annoying that change can take so long? I had another conversation with a mentor yesterday - a conversation we've been chewing on for a while now - and, while in the past, I would have kicked myself for not getting it yet, not mastering it, not perfecting it, not doing it just right yet, I know that while good change is slow and subtle, it happens. It's all a matter of believing in something you can't see.

Many of us - heck, most of us - want to see results right away. We make promises to ourselves to change: to complete a project, to get a new job, to lose weight, to exercise more, to sleep more regularly, to prove our worth, to please our family or clients or colleagues, etc. But, as I learn over and over, and as you might need the reminder - change takes time.

I'm about to teach a 430pm Step class. And, there have been afternoons that I've created four new combinations for class, practiced them, taught them to imaginary participants in my apartment (I close the blinds), then when I show up for class, I have three new beginners who've never taken a step class. Sorry, regular advanced steppers, we're going back to the basics!

So, today, to honor my philosophy that change and growth takes time (and to not beat up myself for not having four new shimmery combos to dazzle my regulars), I've got ONE combo in my head. I'll show up a few minutes before class, make sure I can squeeze it between some combos we did last week, and that's it! I'm not saving the world here. It's step class. We stick to what we know and add change a little at a time. That seems to work in all areas of life, and it feels good.

So, be easy on yourself - whatever you're tackling, take it a day at a time. One bite at a time.

:)