My friend and I had been sitting in the airport’s baggage pick-up area for a while, waiting for our luggage to appear from the top of the revolving belt. There would be a bit of a delay the loudspeaker had announced, thanking us for our patience.
Several seats down, a mother lowered her wiggling toddler to her feet atop a blanket that she had placed on the polished floor. The baby, about 10-11 months old, wore a little pink sweatsuit, and had curly dark ringlets of hair framing her smiling face. She held tightly onto her mom’s fingers. Then she let go and fell onto her bottom, laughing in surprise.
She reached up to grab her mother’s outstretched fingers and pulled herself up to stand again. Once she was upright and balanced, she laughed, let go, stood for a quick moment, then tumbled down again, her face turning into a frown.
But the next second, she was reaching for mom’s fingers again to give it another go.
A thin, white-haired man with a cane who was sitting next to me learned forward in his chair to watch the baby stand and fall, stand and fall. He chuckled and said, “She’ll get it yet.”
Just then a young teen walked past. He was playing with a yo yo that gave off sparkles of colored light as it moved down and up its string. He and his mom stepped onto an escalator that lead to the floor above, the boy not missing a beat with his yo yo as it steadily rose and fell.
“See?” the old man beside me said to nobody in particular, “Even when it looks like its falling, it’s still getting higher all the time.” He settled back in his seat, smiling at the toddler who was now cuddled in her mother’s lap.
Progress is like that. It takes practice to learn a new skill, to build new neural pathways in your brain before your new know-hows become automatic.
That young boy, so adept with his yo yo, probably had to untangle a few knots in its string and learn how far and how fast to move his hand and in what direction before he mastered his tricks.
The toddler had to figure out how to align her body and place her feet and legs before she’d be able to stand on her own without tumbling over.
Whatever you’re learning, whether it’s a new habit or a new skill, keep at it. Repetition and persistence are the keys to the win.
And remember the yo yo on the escalator. Even when it looks like you’re failing, you’re still gaining ground all the time.
Wishing you a week of rising, even when you fall.
Warmly,
Susan
Image by cromaconceptovisual from Pixabay