CHAPTER 67
STEP FOLLOW STEP
Do you remember having to climb some steps when you were young, or as a student rushing for lectures towards your lecture theater or yet still rushing towards your office at the top floor of the office complex? As kids, we often took delight in running the staircase of the three-storey apartment of our neighbor. We made it a competition in which the first to reach the last floor was declared winner. Over time, we developed techniques for climbing. We would jump steps. I could remember vividly having to come down more than once with an injury on my knee. My friends like me also had their share of injury troubles. I observed that the person who often won never came down. He often took each step at a time, and very carefully. Today having grown, I have observed the similitude of those growing days with attributes of present day. We all want to get to the top even if it means having to cut corners and break rules.
In our quest to achieve a feat, we are often tempted to seek for ways through which we could achieve the task with ease. We have grown up thinking we could jump 2 or 3 steps to the top that we fail to realize that in life's rules, step must follow step. Infested with the rat race syndrome, the killer syndrome catches up with us that we fail to acknowledge the cliché "slow and steady wins the race." Today, the statement is, "the slow and steady wins no race." There is an increased tendency to grab and get even if we are not qualified for it.
I observed during my years as a kid climbing the staircase of that three-storey building for sport, that when we manage to climb each step at a time we often got to the top even though we might not have ended first. Those of us who rushed up often came down with injuries that did not give us the opportunity to run again. The truth about life is that the space at the top is so wide as to contain everyone even if you arrive later than the first. It can contain as many persons as take their time. We may not have reached first but we can still enjoy the benefits of being at the top when we finally reach there.
There is always another opportunity to run even if we do not win today. We should not lose the opportunity to run in the future Grande life race for the mediocre primary school inter-house sport. Present glory may be great but the future glory is even greater. Though we so desire to win in every race, we may lose the future grandeur if we choose to lose our senses thinking the present race has to be won by all means even if it means taking our lives.
Have you heard the cliché "what you rush into rushes you out"? When we break the rules, the rules find a way to break us. The likes of Ashaka Powell famous 100m sprinter, who once had numerous gold medals to his name and Nick Jones famous bicycle racer, who was once the world's renowned cycler and numerous gold medalists at the Olympics are testaments to this fact. When you break the rules, people may herald you presently for your championship attainment; but the rules know how to get at you.
We take the steps to our future glory, one rational step at a time. You do not just climb without any thought. The steps are often thoughtful steps. You should realize that there is a chance you could slip as you climb so your mind and soul should drive your pursuit towards your climb up. As you climb up, the intensity of the wind increases. These winds are challenges that battle against your moving ahead. This is normal. You have to absorb the wind each step of the way. If you jump steps, the wind at the particular level may be too strong for you, thus pushing you backwards with strong ferocious force. Your body adapts to balance the wind with each step. It is only when you absorb the challenges of the present step are you considered good enough for the next step. This is why a child does not jump from junior secondary one to senior secondary one. He has to go through the steps of two and three.
To ease your way to the top, you have to ensure you walk every step up. It is better you are considered worthy of a promotion where in this case, a hand pulls you from your present step across one or two steps. In this case, a hand offers help to pull you against the storm and offer the balance you would have had to develop if you had taken those other steps. When you strive for the attainment of the goal that is beyond your capacity, and break corners, you waist useful energy and often end up wasting your time.
The best you so desire is you acknowledging you have to strive for it climbing the stairways one-step at a time.