Baby Steps at B.O.W.

• When it is obvious that the goals cannot be reached, don't adjust the goals, adjust the action steps. Confucious


• Nothing is particularly hard if you divide it into small jobs. Henry Ford


• Have a bias toward action – let’s see something happen now. You can break that big plan into small steps and take the first step right away. Indira Gandhi


• Take the first step in faith. You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step. Martin Luther King, Jr.


• A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step. Lao Tzu


• He who would learn to fly one day must first learn to stand and walk and run and climb and dance. Friedrich Nietzsche


• I dream of men who take the next step instead of worrying about the next thousand steps. Theodore Roosevelt


• When I face the desolate impossibility of writing 500 pages, a sick sense of failure falls on me, and I know I can never do it. Then gradually, I write one page and then another. One day’s work is all that I can permit myself to contemplate. John Steinbeck


• Confront the difficult while it is still easy; accomplish the great task by a series of small acts. Tao Te Ching Don't let the night sky intimidate you. Just take it one piece at a time. Start with what you know and build on that. Warren Hart (Astronomy Teacher at B.O.W.)

Many people have said it before, but sometimes it takes an experience like B.O.W. to bring something into focus. Staring up at the night sky and allowing the impossibility of it all to overwhelm me and make me feel small is not my personal road to enlightenment. I have to take baby steps down that road. I need to take it one step at a time. The first night at B.O.W. I did just that. I found the constellation that I know best... Orion... I looked for those three stars that make up his belt and from there I built the story that I had learned in class that day. I spotted his loyal hunting dogs Canis Major and Canis Minor at his side. I also recognized the stealthy rabbit Lepus crouching at his feet who is thankful that Taurus the Bull is there to draw the hunter's attention away. It didn't make me feel small, it made me feel like I was a part of something big.

The next day I applied this to what I learned in my other classes. In my outdoor photography class I decided that I was going to tackle my digital camera one function at a time instead of trying to digest the whole owner's manual in one gulp. In my introduction to hunting class I began formulating my hunting plan rather than feeling like I have to rush to the end. Finally in my last class, geocaching, I decided that rather than moaning and groaning about how I can't afford to buy a GPS receiver I was going to explore the host of opportunities out there that don't need any special equipment. I'll worry about buying stuff when I can afford it and just have fun for now.

Thinking about all the ways that I can apply this idea to the projects and goals in my life can be a bit overwhelming... so I won't do that. I'll just start with what I know and build on that. To start a fire first you need a spark. but that's a story for another day... Another baby step...