The Power Of One Small Step

Welcome to this video.

What a perfect place to meet up here on Insight Timer.

This video is going to speak to grace.

It's going to speak to one step,

Those small steps that we can take.

A lot of times,

Even for me in my own life,

Even recently,

There have been moments where I have things planned and I plan properly and I plan in advance,

But something may not go as planned and I have to find an alternative.

And what that can look like,

For instance,

Is maybe you were going to leave at a certain time and you have to leave at another time.

You're going to journey in grace and move forward anyway,

Knowing that I'm leaving in divine time.

And this really helps to calm the nervous system.

It helps to take us out of the stress response,

Knowing that we are doing the best we can moving with ourselves in that day,

In that moment.

And this also looks like if you're looking for something and not finding it and having to make do with something else,

That's a practice of journeying in grace.

If you can't get started and there's procrastination or even perfectionism,

Can I just take one small step?

Just one.

Everything may not be ideal.

I may not even feel ready,

But can I take just one tiny,

One tiny step,

One micro step forward?

And even that micro step forward gets us into action,

Gets us into motion.

And once we're in motion,

Things start to feel better.

They really do.

Motion moves emotion.

So if we can begin to take ourselves forward with whatever we can,

Maybe some days it's the big steps,

Other days it's those small steps.

But I really want to invite you to look around and see what is that one small step that I can utilize and recognize and honor and have gratitude for,

That this is the thing moving me forward today,

In this moment.

And doesn't that become the big thing though,

When you think about it like that?

It really is a way to have grace through the day as a meditation practice,

As a mindfulness practice.

And a thing that happened to me just about three days ago,

One of my doors in my home fell off the hinges.

I know,

I know,

I know.

Fell off of the hinges.

And this particular night,

I knew,

Just down in my spirit,

I knew that I was not going to just let the door stay off the hinges.

And I have a do-it-yourself background.

And I knew that with the right screws,

I could get the door back on.

So I'm looking around for the screws that I need in particular,

And I cannot find them.

They're not here.

So what I do is I look to see what I do have.

And when I'm looking for a screw,

I find just one screw,

Just one.

And I know that this particular size will fit.

And I take it and I'm looking for more.

I'm hoping that because there's this one,

There's more.

I'm hoping that I don't just have that one random screw,

But I had just that one random screw.

That was all there was.

So I take it.

And I just had this knowing to work with what I have,

Work with that one screw.

It will be enough.

Just trust.

So I gather my son.

We go and we're handling the door.

And I put the screw in the center hinge.

And do you know that it worked?

It worked,

But it's longer.

The screws that fell out were short.

And I don't know how they got the job for the hinge situation in the first place,

But they were holding the door up.

There was nine of them,

Of course.

But this one screw that's a lot thicker and longer,

Obviously it's meant to hold a lot of weight and it's holding the door up at this moment.

I am so grateful.

And I could not help at the end of that evening think about what a message that was.

There I was presented with a problem out of the blue that I didn't plan for,

That I didn't expect.

And I had a remedy in my home that I had no clue.

So it was my sense of surrender to the moment of saying,

Okay,

This did happen.

Okay.

Looking to see what ideally I could use to fix it.

It wasn't there.

I said,

Okay.

And then I found an alternative.

Trusting.

I got the message to trust.

And then I said,

Okay.

Again.

Okay.

Okay.

Is the practice in this moment.

And so I use what I had.

And it was just a powerful example of listening,

Of trusting.

And I trust in my spirit that that moment was a lot bigger than the door.

The door was just the catalyst,

But what was it showing me?

It was showing Layla in that moment that sometimes it's the things that are not expected that will support you.

Sometimes it's moving forward,

Even though you don't have all the things perfect and ready.

Isn't that us too?

Some days we don't feel perfect.

We don't feel ready.

We have to make alternative plans or we have to maybe re-imagine revision,

How we're going to approach something.

But if we trust,

We allow that even to be the process.

And it builds this place of flexibility.

Flexibility can become sacred.

And in that moment,

It becomes sacred flexibility.

Flexibility can become the meditation,

The practice.

And what I am also seeing,

Even for what I'm saying,

There were so many different practices that I experienced that day.

Surrender and mindfulness,

Just to be aware of what was coming through,

Meta-awareness of the message coming through in real time while I'm trying to mitigate a situation.

So that was the lesson.

The lesson was trying something new,

Working with what you have,

Just that one thing,

If you just have one thing.

So my message to you is this,

What is that one thing that you can do today,

This week,

This month to get you going?

What can be that one thing that is allowing you to move forward where you may be stuck and blocked or stagnated?

And metaphorically,

It's the screw,

Right?

So what's your one screw?

What is your one screw?

But is it you speaking on a video camera like this?

Is it you posting yourself on social media?

Is it you sitting down for a meditation practice when that one practice is the one thing that you know will return you home to your center?

Is it having a meal quietly?

Is it lighting a candle?

Is it taking a bath?

Is it writing one paragraph on the page,

One line on the page?

Is it just sitting down at the desk?

Is it checking on something,

Organizing something?

What is that one thing?

Is it a prayer?

Is it a meditation?

Is it an action?

Is it having a nourishing cup of warm herbal tea?

Is it making yourself a meal?

So the one thing can be different and it's going to look different for all of us.

But at the same time,

It's really the same.

It's called guidance.

It's called expansion.

It's called support and help.

And it is the one thing.

So when we think about our daily lives,

We can slow down and trust that we're being guided.

We're being guided and we don't realize all of the time.

Even in those moments that feel like they are so apart from everything else we have going on,

There are these little divine reminders that we're still supported.

We're still loved.

We're still guided and carried in the mundane,

In the moments that don't seem to matter much.

What is a door falling off the hinges in my home have to do with my spiritual practice,

Right?

With my joy.

But I had everything because it brought me joy.

See how I just laughed?

That was joy and I'm transferring it to you if you will have it.

So it's very important that we notice the small things around us and how they are here to support us.

I pray that this supported you in some way.

What is your one thing?

Where can you start?

I invite you to reflect on that.

What is the one thing that I can do today that can help me move forward?

That can help me make progress in some space?

And what is the one thing that is showing up as a practice for me to engage with?

How is it inviting me in?

Thank you for watching.