Have you ever had moments when your “to-do” list has spilled onto the second or third page and nothing, or maybe very little, has been crossed off? Have you wondered how you are going to reduce that washing pile, tidy the house, answer all your emails, finish the projects you are working on, and in some cases, actually start one?
I am sure we all can relate to the anxiousness and overwhelm we feel when we are faced with so much to do and seemingly no time, or energy, to do it. So what do you do when feeling overwhelmed and under-prepared for what life has presented you with?
Do you head for the fridge looking for the sweetest thing you can find to eat? Or maybe head for bed and dive under the bed clothes and trust that the work angel will do everything for you while you rest in comfort? Do you turn on the TV and disappear into your favourite programme, or do you go for a run, pounding the pavement until your body screams – “STOP!”?
We seem to have so many ways of numbing ourselves when life seemingly gets too hard, and instead of stopping, re-connecting to ourselves and asking what is one simple thing I can do right now, we simply choose to close our eyes, figuratively and literally, and hope whatever we believe we can’t deal with will just go away.
For many years I have had a picture on my fridge of a little child on the beach, wearing nothing but a hat. It shows the child looking at the sea ahead but in the way is a load of driftwood creating a definite challenge to getting to where he/she wants to go. The quote at the top of the picture says: “One step at a time – anything else is just too tricky!”
I have looked at this often over the years and sometimes it has helped bring me back from that place of anxiousness and overwhelm, but other times I have simply ignored it. But I have never felt to take it off the fridge and it has outlasted many other pictures and magnets.
However, as last summer arrived, the very simple message that image has been giving me for many years became more than just a message, but something that, by my actions, has now become a living truth. I was diagnosed with a respiratory infection just before the end of my working year.
I knew that I was tired after a very full on year and I knew that I needed to stop, but was ‘hoping’ I would make it until my holiday began: but no, my body decided that enough was enough and stopped me in my tracks, and proceeded to order me into bed. There I stayed watching summer unfold through the window and listening to everyone else having fun in the pool.
A couple of weeks later, after having made the choice to listen more intently to my body, I slowly began to feel better and knew that I needed to get up and get moving. Some exercise was being called for and gentle walking felt like what my body needed, but where I live doesn’t make that easy.
The challenge is that we live in the country on a busy road with no footpaths, and walking along the road is decidedly dangerous. But the call to walk in the sunshine was strong so on went the gumboots and into the paddocks I went – firstly just for a few minutes simply communing with my resident lawnmowers, my sheep and my alpacas, and sitting in the sun.
I made a commitment to do this each day and, after a few days, I felt an impulse to add an extra ingredient to my exercise.
A few months previously we had had a large tree chopped down and most of the wood had been collected and moved to the wood shed, but there was a pile that for some reason had been left. So on this particular day I picked up a piece of the wood, making sure that it wasn’t too heavy, and very slowly – and I do mean slowly – walked with it over to the fence and dropped it into the next paddock.
The plan was to eventually move it to a place where my grandchildren could later transport it to the wood shed. So each day, sometimes twice a day, I would walk for 5-10 minutes around the paddock, pick up a piece of wood and repeat the action, always being aware of its weight, how I was carrying it and how I was walking.
My body was asking for total conscious presence and that is what it got. As the days passed I began to feel my level of fitness increase, the pile on one side of the fence was decreasing and the one on the other was growing, until one day there was no more wood to move.
I remember going back into the house this day and looking out my window at the pile of wood I had moved and being utterly surprised at how big it was. I realised that I had actually moved it all, with no stress, no strain and that it had actually been enjoyable and, best of all, I was now feeling much more alive.
I walked from the window to the kitchen and stopped to look at the picture on my fridge and smiled at the lesson that I had just learned. “One step at a time – anything else is just too tricky!” And at that moment my own words came to me: “With commitment and consistency, and with one loving step at a time, we can move mountains” – and in my case, a wood pile!
I have so much appreciation for Serge Benhayon and the other marvellous students of Universal Medicine who inspire me daily to take more care of my body and to love me like never before, and as a result I have seen and experienced the magic that can unfold when one commits to life and brings consistency to that commitment. Now it’s on to the next ‘wood pile’, one step at a time!
By Ingrid Ward, West Auckland, New Zealand
Further Reading:
What’s All The Fuss About Self-Care?
I Found Observing My Body Is A Great Support
Mowing The Lawn – With Tenderness
The Truth about Serge Benhayon 
Ingrid I loved what has been presented here, the ‘to do’ list and the ‘overwhelm’ is something that has been playing out in my life recently. And it is a matter of ‘one step at time – anything else is just too tricky,’ otherwise it brings in the overwhelm and eventually exhaustion.
The more I get rid of the to do lists, and just respond to what is needed in that moment, the more it feels joyous and it flows. I’m in the early stages of this and I know with commitment and consistency, I will be able to move mountains.
Thank you Ingrid, this blog came at the perfect time for me…
Keeping it simple, and choosing one thing to do now makes so much sense, ‘We seem to have so many ways of numbing ourselves when life seemingly gets too hard, and instead of stopping, re-connecting to ourselves and asking what is one simple thing I can do right now’.
I like the simplicity of things, once complication comes in so does everything else, then there’s disarray and mayhem. One step at a time as well as staying connected to oneself is paramount, the body will communicate, it’s a matter of whether we listen and take heed or ignore and miss the opportunity to learn.
It’s fascinating what our bodies can communicate to us if we stop to listen. So many of us and I include myself have listened to our minds rather than our body because we have been led to believe our mind is the receptacle for our intelligence. I now know the opposite is true our bodies have access to a far greater intelligence than our minds will ever know. We have been sold a lie.
Absolutely Mary, our bodies are very wise, ‘ our bodies have access to a far greater intelligence than our minds will ever know.’
With simple purpose and consistency a job can get done effortlessly and feel complete, but with push and drive there is an expectation and exhaustion of the body leaving it wanting more and then seeking another activity in order to feel complete.
It is so true that when we allow space for a job to be done, so much can happen in that time to complete itself and all that with seemingly no effort and stress. It is only when we place conditions and expectations on ourselves or others that we can feel the pressure and can easily begin to stress. This is a beautiful example of moving a pile of wood and at the same time symbolic of each step in your healing.
Ingrid I absolutely love the simplicity and honesty that you write with – what you have shared in this blog is something that we can all relate to in one way or another! So gorgeously described I felt like I was with you each step of the way.
What a practical way to live Ingrid, and feeling the blessing that your fire-place would also get when the timber gets ignited by your glowing presence could be another blog.
If we don’t consider the work we have to do as a big pile but simply do it one log at a time we will find there comes a moment we look out of our window and appreciate how much work we have actually done without making a drama out of it.
Yes I have had many days of to-do lists of more than 1 page and wondering how on earth I was going to get it all done, never once considering if someone else could do it for me or if it indeed needed to be done in the first place!
When we focus on the expected end result of a task we can feel overwhelmed but when we take one step at a time we have the opportunity to take pleasure in how we move in what we are doing.
Much more fun, to take pleasure in how we move in what we are doing, enjoying being with ourselves and what we are doing.
One of my favourite blogs, it’s a simple but powerful message from your story and it’s stayed with me. At the moment I am redoing my closet, taking everything out, washing the items, cleaning and disinfecting the shelves, then reorganising the washed and dried items and placing them back in with care and attention to order. As I am not well and my energy levels are low, I am just doing a section when I feel to and enjoying it very much. The push to achieve the end result is gone and in its place the joy of caring for me by doing it, caring for my body by honouring when and how much to do, and feeling the beauty of the quality it’s done in, which is something I feel a purpose to do for the all. It may be a closet on the surface yet it’s a space that is contained within the ocean of energy we live in, a space I can offer back with the imprint of love, care and order. Once upon a time I would not have taken this on as I’d only see the whole thing and it would feel too much.
There is such a joy that gets re-ignited when we care more deeply for ourselves because we can, and when we feel the deep impulse to do so. The bonus is that the body heals faster with joyful care as an ingredient.
This is a beautiful sharing Melinda, knowing that the quality you bring to say your closet has a bigger impact on our world, as everything is connected by energy, ‘caring for my body by honouring when and how much to do, and feeling the beauty of the quality it’s done in, which is something I feel a purpose to do for the all.’
A steady focus and commitment to the moment to moment choices we make..the simplicity in this is awesome – no quick fixes, magic tricks or formula needed, just a loving and dedicated focus to whatever is in front of us, in that moment.
My whole life used to be one big ‘to do’ list, this created alot of anxiety and stress in my body as I kept adding to the list and it became an endless task. I write lists now but with a different flavour, they are more loving reminders of what needs to be completed, knowing the rest will take place… as you say Ingrid… one step at a time.
I can so relate to what you have shared – “My whole life used to be one big ‘to do’ list” – as now I look back I can see so clearly that mine was too. I was just piling stress on top of more stress, no wonder life seemed to be an endless struggle. Thank goodness I have denounced those stress piles and nowadays focus on gently moving ‘wood piles’ instead.
Anna I too can relate to the ‘to-do’ lists, the satisfaction of crossing something off, the pressures I placed upon myself to get something done and the empty feeling of incompletion even though I can finished something and could cross it off. Today I still have a to do list, but I work it completely differently and I have learned to tune into what is needed and when, and I only refer to the to do list as a mere reminder and inspiration.
I totally relate to your wood pile story that happens to me all the time and suddenly I have read a whole book, learnt to swim, can now do certain exercises I couldn’t before and so on and so forth!
One step at a time is always the way to go.
Imagine lifting both feet at once to step – you would most likely fall over and not get very far – at best a short hop.
Such a brilliant example of what one step at a time looks like and how we can literally move mountains with it, without stress or strain, so why would we do it any other way … a reminder that this way of being and living is always available to us, we just need to be consistent in our commitment to it.
Reading your blog again today Ingrid I started to understand that there is something very big going on inside me and the same approach is needed, one loving step at a time without the need to push or have expectations, and that I can take my time and give myself all the space I need to feel my way.
Feeling overwhelmed is just a situation we create for ourselves to justify not moving. By not moving we create a situation that confirms us not moving and provides an extra alibi for not moving. Yet, to arrive to that situation you have to work hard.
I often recall your words here Ingrid and work in the rhythm of them. The rhythm of one step at a time and one breath at a time has always been something I deeply enjoy and cherish.
It was so lovely to read your words Esther. They are definitely words that are instantly with me when I feel myself allowing complication into my life. And I still have a picture of the little girl on the beach on my fridge to remind me to take “One Step at a Time” if by some chance I forget.
Yes, it is a quality that lives innately within us and as little babies we live them so well, we are not ahead of us nor do we linger in the past, we just are in the moment of our whole being. So beautiful and so very natural.
Yes, Imagine trying to take two breaths at the same time!!!
We can truly only do what is before us which the body so lovingly reminds us. Whenever I have tried to cover too much or am ahead of myself it creates a stress and unease in my body and the quality goes out the window.
“We can truly only do what is before us which the body so lovingly reminds us.” Yes, simple, that’s it. So no need for doing it any other way.
A great approach to life, I love this story Ingrid. Often when we are not so focused on the outcome but simply follow the impulse it is amazing what is possible.. and it is enjoyable too.
This blog applies to both the overwhelm of having too much to do, but we can also find overwhelm in having too little to do and being ‘aimless’. One. Step. At. A. Time.
ha. ha. well. said. 🙂
Overwhelm is about how much I think I have got to do, and how quickly I want to see them done, and this is actually about how long/much I think I have to sacrifice ‘my time’, already weighing it against some kind of reward in the end.
I love this reminder as it is easy to get overwhelmed by all the ‘to do’s’ in life but I always come back to keeping it really simple and also not putting things off – just one step at a time regardless of the perceived difficulty.
We do seem to make mountains out of molehills and go into overwhelm – what this blog shows us is that with conscious presence the body responds and heals itself, and what we thought was too much for us suddenly becomes easy.
I agree that some of us are rather adept at building those mountains, mountains that never needed to be built in the first place. And of course the sight of this growing mountain can easily put us into overwhelm. I have found that taking one step back and allowing myself a wider and more honest view of what is really going on, the mountain begins to shrink back to the original “molehill, which of course is way much easier to address.
When we focus on taking everything one step at a time it is in that consistent steadiness that we can complete all our responsibilities.
Simplicity and consistency is key to deepening the quality of our movements.
I always love rereading this blog – I think too often in life we can want to get somewhere immediately without doing the hard work every day – and it’s a great reminder that with commitment and dedication slowly and steadily great change is possible.
And I too love re-reading it Meg. It is always my go-to if I have allowed complication back into my life. I was reminded of it the other day when starting a new job and the first thing my employer said was that we would take it – one step at a time. Of course that had me smiling in agreement and appreciation.
It is something to appreciate that we actually know, we have all the answers, that we just need to listen to the wisdom within us.
It just goes to show we can move mountains if we keep it simple.
One step at a time … and appreciate every step of the way!
Building conscious presence each moment in our lives opens up a whole other guidance system for what needs to be done next as our inner hearts and bodies can feel everything.
Very good sharing of what is such an obvious way to live. Simplicity and consistency are what is required.
This is one big stop moment for you Annelise, one you probably would have preferred to have done without but one that is offering you the space to observe how you live and how you work. I get a sense that you will be willingly taking the lessons learned into your life, one step at a time of course.
Interesting to read this today as I have been stopped in my tracks at the moment sitting here with a broken wrist already for some weeks in plaster. There is such a learning in a period like this and it is indeed one loving step at the time and build a more loving relationship with myself. This week I did some admin jobs at my work and what i noticed was that when it comes to work I put a lot of pressure on myself, l observed myself as I left the loving space I was in (my body) having the idea that I had to do a certain amount of work before I could go, no one was expecting anything of me, just by going into old steps, the movement was there. The next phase in my healing process to let go of these expectations and take it back to one step at the time.
When I forget to take one step at a time, I can get ahead of myself which leads to complication, staying present and focused on what needs to be done in the moment creates simplicity and ease.
Yes, there really is so much to learn from each moment, if we are ahead of ourselves we are likely to miss the moments of magic that are being offered.
Thank you Ingrid, I enjoyed reading this again. It’s a wonderful example of how much we can do when we approach a task lovingly and by placing the care of ourselves and our body first. And a great quote from you “With commitment and consistency, and with one loving step at a time, we can move mountains”. So often motivational talks are just about achieving, but what’s missing is the self love. We can achieve many things but if we are not living connected to our love within we will always feel empty, which may even prompt us to try to achieve even more, and often at the expense of our body and wellbeing.
Melinda, I can so relate to the emptiness of achievement that comes without love. And to do things without love simply means that we have undertaken them in separation to ourselves, with no conscious presence whatsoever. Reading my blog again today I can really feel that each step that I took was taken in full connection to me and that was the loving ingredient that made it such a healing process on many levels.
“One step at a time – anything else is just too tricky!” these words are so tender loving and honouring Ingrid, thank you for sharing your experience of these words and the strength and consistence of your commitment.
Today I have come back to appreciating each little step by focusing on the basics like keeping warm, drinking enough water and getting the rest I need.
I have been inspired to learn a similar truth by watching Wood ants as they work together collecting one fallen pine needle after another to build a large nest mound, which to an ant must feel as enormous as a pyramid.
Thank you Mary, ants are very inspiring, what they achieve by working together is amazing and they never let their size or what’s in front of them prevent their activities.
Beautiful Mary we are so blessed to have nature showing us all the time how life can be.
I love stopping and observing ants at work. They certainly are inspirational as they work together in seeming harmony, taking ‘one step at a time’ as they move their own ‘mountains’. They, as well as so many other parts of nature are some of our greatest teachers.
I hadn’t thought about that but it is true, they are a very good reminder of tenacity, commitment and brotherhood. If we open our eyes there is inspiration everywhere.
Overwhelm is something I only experience when I am not connected to my body. When I am connected my body knows what to do and what to leave for that moment, the order in which to do it and also who to ask for support.
When your body is loud and clear in how much energy it has outside being with itself it makes you choose very consciously what and how you are going to spend that energy. And something that might seem small or insignificant can have an impactful effect.
It is exactly that… a commitment to life but not just in the moments when we feel like it but in every moment. Becoming aware of those moments when I know I am not committing to life such as finding comfort in complication is supporting me to change my movements. In a particular situation I am getting to know the energy that enters my body well before the activity of doing that follows so I have no excuse!
The spaciousness that ‘one step at at time’ allows, brings us back to our body and a feeling of timelessness – a beautiful quality.
We engage in a pattern of movement that produces a series of familiar consequences we have said yes to. That is why is so difficult to change them. This is also why, we have to appreciate that a change in our pattern of movement means that we have said yes to something else first.
Thanks Ingrid. I can relate well to being in the anxiousness of worrying about getting everything done so your blog was a great handbrake for me to stop and consider how I might change my approach to truly take things one step at a time, regardless of whether the task is small or large.
I love the idea of the ‘handbrake’ as that is exactly what is required sometimes if we find ourselves overwhelmed. The only problem is that once in overwhelm that handbrake is hard to find, but making the choice to stop for a moment and to acknowledge how we are truly feeling offers the space to choose to take just one gentle step at a time, and the need for a handbrake is dissolved.
……the missing ingredient” with love”. and the magic of consistency.
A friend of mine used to say, “you pluck an elephant one hair at a time” and this statement is as hilarious as it it is true. I find I can more easily adopt it for bigger projects but still fall short of the mark when it comes to smaller things that I just want ‘to get done and over with’. And it is this attitude that can then make me rush and make mistakes so that everything takes twice as long as needed, i.e. it defeats the purpose.
The picture of an elephant being plucked I got while reading your words, Gabriele, had me chuckling away but as you say, as funny as it is, it is so true. And yes it is the smaller, everyday things that trip many of us up, but as I have found, often the hard way, it is those small things that once completed make up the foundation of our life. For me it is still a work in progress and if I tend to stray off the path I come back and read my blog; always a great marker to return to.
When we do one step at a time, that means that our feet are actually on the ground… Which means that we can get to where we are going very very simply.
One step at a time is a great way to live harmoniously with life, for it ensures that we are present with each movement which means we are bringing all of us to all that we do. Anything done with full presence will have the hallmark of our commitment and quality which will set the foundation for the ensuing step.
I love how you unravel here how one step at a time is the way to go, as how could we possibly do otherwise. Yet, it is so easy to fall for the rushing and the need to finish things with all that needs to be done. But in the end the quality counts in which things have been done and exactly that is being felt in what you are describing.
One step at a time rather than being ahead of ourselves and relentlessly driven by our mind is the best advice we could ever get.
Committing to life, bringing consistency and appreciation are great qualities to bring to our lives as you show in this blog Ingrid.
When we introduce appreciation to our lives, not for what we do, but for the presence of who we are in our bodies, we allow the space to appreciate each and every step.
In truth, can we really do anything other than just take the next step?
What you have shared so succinctly is so very true Nikki, for if we try to take more than one step we will probably trip ourselves up and end up face down in our self-constructed pile of complication; a very uncomfortable and exhausting place to be.
Taking one step at a time in conscious presence with consistency builds a solid foundation upon which ‘bigger steps” can be taken, which do not feel big because of the foundation established.
With much to do ahead of me this is very apt to read now and a joyful inspiration to read again.
This is beautiful Ingrid. With commitment and consistency we can indeed move mountains. Many baby steps may not seem like much, but after a while you can look back and see how far you have come.
A beautiful reminder Ingrid, to take small steps in conscious presence, ‘“One step at a time – anything else is just too tricky!” And at that moment my own words came to me: “With commitment and consistency, and with one loving step at a time, we can move mountains” – and in my case, a wood pile!’
I am in a new job in a completely new field of work – everything is challenging and completely out of my comfort zone. I love it but also, I am not used to it, so like you Ingrid, I need to build my ‘fitness’ for the work I am being asked to do so I do not choose to go in being overwhelmed. Like you this is in bringing greater presence and focusing on one thing at a time. Also in appreciating what I bring and the quality in which I do my work. The more I do this, the more space I am finding in my day.
The wisdom of the esoteric (existing already within us) reminds us that the key to life is to ‘walk small steps and master every one’. Unlike all that is not esoteric and existing outside of us that comes at as with great force and threatens to throw us into overwhelm if we do not move with steady consistency.
The moment we look outside of ourselves we tend to walk bigger steps and without the mastering you are speaking about Liane. It is more that we then become walking heads instead of living into a body that asks us to live a loving quality that brings us back to our true nature.
To learn to “‘walk small steps and master every one” is a lesson that I have loved learning. It is still a wonderful work in progress as with every step I have the opportunity to deepen my connection to me and all that is around me. And when I take that one step in connection to my innermost, the wisdom that lives within me, I leave behind steps of love for all who follow.
I so agree Doug about the horribleness of overwhelm. It is how I lived for so long, probably getting used to this uncomfortable feeling in my body but not knowing how to move it on out. Today if I feel it creeping back – and it does every now and then – I stop, take several gentle breaths and then make the choice to do one simple thing or take just one step, bringing all of my attention to how I am moving. From this loving choice, any signs of the overwhelm begins to dissolve and I am quickly back to me; a much more settled space to be.
Just came back to this blog and it is utterly gorgeous and super simple. I love the reminder of taking life one step at a time as it seems in our modern age we want things to be done now and cannot wait until something perpectuates in the future. Taking life step by step is essentially living in the present moment and embracing it in full.
I too love coming back to my blog Joshua, as I often am ready for the loving reminder to take “one step at a time”. I know from my own experience that trying to take more than one step at a time is a recipe for disaster which usually results in having to take many more steps than I would have if I had taken my own self-loving advice in the first place!
There is always a list, just when you think you have nearly got on top of it more things manifest, so yes one step at a time with appreciation and presence along the way is my intention.
The lists of life and how we hold, use and implement them. There is always a list, whether it be actually written down or whether it be at the fingertips of your mind, there is always something to do. I remember growing up and something about how we did things didn’t make sense. I would move through or finish something only to find something else in it’s place and so then I would do that only to find something in it’s place. The thought then came to work faster and still the same result, faster and faster and yet a lot of the time you never go on top of the list. I know you’ve worked that hard you need a holiday and so you walk away, only to find the list waiting for you, untouched. So you build a life getting things done as quick as you can and then when you’ve had enough have a holiday so you can come back and go again. From a young age it seemed like a waste of time and now that makes sense, do whatever you truly feel but always dedicate to how it feels rather then just getting it done. As there are so many things to do, the list is long and so it can only and always come back to the feeling, the true quality.
We so can move mountains when we keep it simple and just take it one step at a time and when we allow ourselves the space to connect to ourselves and feel how we are. A beautiful very practical example of how this can work … thanks Ingrid.
This blog indeed is a beautiful example that we can move mountains and that it actually does not need any force but just a loving rhythm we live with our bodies and with the cycles we live in.
Thanks again Ingrid for this blog which brought me to a stop to return to the stillness in my body. “With commitment and consistency, and with one loving step at a time, we can move mountains” A very timely and lovely reminder that it is always about our quality first before we do anything.
Sure Annelies, something we sometimes so easily forget that we can only do one step at a time, which is in full appreciation of the body we live in. A body that can only live in this moment and nowhere else, as compared to our mind that wants to make us belief that we can live in the past, in the future and in our minds but forgets to live in this moment.
The intent and care for which you listened and observed your body Ingrid is a testament to how much you value who you are. Truly inspiring thank you.
One step at a time, this is a great policy for going about our days – often I notice I start to plan my day in my head in the moments before getting out of bed but forget to deeply appreciate the things in my life – like how I just slept, how I am going forward, how my body feels etc. and when we make space to do these things the sense of ‘time’ completely opens up and we are not in a race with it any more.
I love what you are bringing to the fore here Harry, how much we deprive ourselves of the gorgeousness we are and how very beautiful life is, when we are always ahead of ourselves, because we are never getting to appreciate all that there is but always running after all that we think could be or should be.
What you describe here is such a simple truth. One step at a time is all that we can do anyway and why not do it then with love and care so we can enjoy each step along the way no matter what we do.
I have had the opportunity to watch a house being built behind ours. It is now almost complete, but some days I watched the workmen literally cementing one brick at a time to make the walls, and now a year later the house is nearly ready. Whenever I feel overwhelmed, it is useful to remind myself that all I need to do is take one loving step at a time.
I love this blog Ingrid, such a simple message that hold a huge amount of power.
I find the small steps and the conscious consistency within these steps is where the true journey lies and what unfolds from there is magnificent.
Thank you Ingrid,your message is perfect for this day as I started to feel a bit overwhelmed with seeing all the tasks I have to do. Re reading your blog made me stop and breath and find my own rhythm again which feels spacious in my body. So yes to one step at a time is what it is with appreciation of what is there on offer.
I smiled a very big smile when I read your comment Annelies as only a few minutes before, in danger of being overwhelmed by all the things that I too have waiting for my attention, I had reminded myself of this blog and the message that I obviously need to hear right at this moment in time. And of course, reading your comment was all the confirmation that was needed. Once I began to walk again, and as I took each step, I said out loud – “One step at a time – Anything else is just too tricky” – and as I did I could feel the complication (the tricky) that was growing start to dissolve which then naturally allowed the space for the simplicity to build; simplicity that supports me to breathe more easily again.
This is so true Annelies. When we go into overwhelm we miss a step and a breath or multiple ones, hence why we are left gasping for air at the end.
““With commitment and consistency, and with one loving step at a time, we can move mountains” – and in my case, a wood pile!.” Beautiful to re-read this Ingrid. One step at a time – after all – this is how we all earned to walk. And it’s no different now really, when we are adults – doing one small thing with consistency and commitment brings results, but with what quality do we take each step?
One step at a time – if we master that one step then we can go on to master the next step and the next step and this brings evolution.
Ah yes Elizabeth, too often I want to jump ahead and take on too much and then I spread myself too thin and there is no true quality in what I am doing. With one step at a time, we can consolidate and strengthen everything in our lives… this builds a solid foundation before we move onto the next step.
Nothing is impossible when we take it one step at a time. Why put ourselves into and anxious spin jumping ahead of ourselves to the outcome when being present with every step supports a flow and power within us that is beyond this world.
If we treasure the small steps the end result is all the more magnificent.
This is so true Meg. It is the loving presence that those small steps are taken in that builds the foundation that holds us in every moment; a foundation that I too am discovering feels magnificent. But it appears that most of us want to jump straight to the magnificence without taking those small steps first. I know that this is how I lived until I discovered the huge importance and the power of each and every small step.
Hey Ingrid, I totally agree. What I am discovering is that if I stay present in the small steps, or the small moments, every single moment has a magnificence to it. We tend to think the magnificence is at the end, but what if every moment in it’s precision and it’s exactness has a magnificence to it?
The dread or anticipation of something we have to do that we feel overwhelmed by is always way worse than actually getting on with it. Time after time when I finally do that thing, I find it takes no time at all, when I expected it would take ‘forever’. It is great to just start to take one step at a time, with what you can manage and not look at the whole picture.
When you shared that you really wanted to walk, knowing that’s what your body needed to support it, I stopped and deeply pondered on this very simple truth. I myself have not yet full embraced just how important it is to fully honour my body and its needs, this article brings home a physical reality of its importance.
Thank you Ingrid for a great reminder of how not to get overwhelmed by a task by just taking, “one step at a time’ – so simple, really.
‘With commitment and consistency, and with one loving step at a time, we can move mountains’ Your inspirational words have so much power Ingrid. I will take them with me into my day because part of my role is to support and motivate clients to resume activities and the story of your wood pile is so relatable.
How wonderful to hear that you work with clients to “support and motivate” them. It is also very challenging to return to work after being sick or injured ,or even simply returning to every day life. I am coming back to this blog at the moment as I am returning to work after a long period of time of not being able to work, and it’s certainly one step at a time for me too.
Overwhelm used to be familiar territory for me in fact there was almost a comfort in feeling overwhelmed and sorry for myself and I can relate to hoping the ‘work angel’ (or anyone other than me!) would sort stuff out. Supporting myself by taking loving care of myself rather than waiting for others to notice that I am overwhelmed and rescue me means I am much more likely to recognise when I am heading for overwhelm and I can then choose to connect and take ‘one step at a time’.
Awesome example of how we can achieve incredible feats if we are committed, consistent and present within.
And the amazing thing is Kim that these ‘incredible feats’ don’t have put a strain on our body, or end up injuring us, if we simply take the time to be with ourselves when we undertake them; some we may even feel to put off until another day as doing it today may actually not be as essential as we had convinced ourselves that it is. The philosophy of “one step at a time” is one that I continue to live by these days and my body sure appreciates that I do.
Thanks for sharing Ingrid – what this highlights is that if we live in a way where we wait for a holiday to have a break – then we put a lot of strain on our bodies. Whereas there is an opportunity to live all the time in purpose – so we don’t wait for or need a break from life – we build a consistent and supportive way of living where we don’t get to the point of being anxious or stressed, There is always a choice…
Thank you Ingrid, I have a big pile of boxes from moving that need to be sorted through, you have inspire me to do just a bit but consistently, I’m sure my big pile of boxes will soon whittle down. I’ve been looking at it as a big job, and it is, but not so much with a small bit everyday, just like your woodpile.
I used to run my life on ” to do lists” and can honestly say that it didn’t work as it only ended up in feeling exhausted as a result of having to rely on my nervous system to get everything done, letting go of this hasn’t been easy but the more I embrace and appreciate myself for who I am the more I am learning to surrender and trust that everything gets done as needed with a level of simplicity and effortlessness never before imagined.
Having had a really exhausting week the title of this blog came to me once again. Rather than focusing on how flat out exhausted I feel, the overwhelm that came with thinking about what my exhausted body had to do today I told myself ‘One thing at a time, anything else is just too tricky!’ I still feel exhausted but less overwhelmed and more focused on supporting myself one step at a time. Simple and stress free. Thank you Ingrid.
When we move with presence in each moment there is a notable difference in the flow of our movements and you can feel ease and space which allows for greater opportunities of learning. It is here that we can observe our bodies and make a choice to continue to move from our connection or not. I love the simplicity it offers.
Once we commit to moving “with presence in each moment” when we are not moving with this level of consciousness it becomes so obvious as it feels so uncomfortable in our body; we do not flow and there is definitely no simplicity as every movement feels complicated. Moving in harmony with our body though is easy and it is effortless and it opens us space for us to observe so clearly what is going on in and around us.
How beautiful it is to see when there’s no attachment to the outcome we are capable of allowing each moment to unfold to reveal more and more and more.
This blog is a great lesson that life is just a succession of steps, one at a time and when done with full presence of our mind and it not rushing a few steps ahead, life will get a quality that is unknown for many and already lived by some.
A beautiful story Ingrid. I love how you really just allowed yourself the space to feel what you needed rather than be annoyed you were sick and not as strong as you were before. It’s a completely different approach to life, and one that serves such a greater purpose. Why do we spend our lives worrying? I mean, it’s incessant, and pointless.
I love how Ingrid made a simple message a lived reality. Could this be the step we miss in life? We get the message, but how often do we make it our lived reality?
“We seem to have so many ways of numbing ourselves when life seemingly gets too hard, and instead of stopping, re-connecting to ourselves and asking what is one simple thing I can do right now…..” I was a past master at doing anything other than stopping and connecting and was always trying to multi-task – much pride was in that so-called ability too. I would get fidgetty when doing just one thing at a time – as my mind was flying all over the place, thinking of everything that had to be done now! I now realise the stress that caused. Bringing attention to the one thing I am doing – which right now is typing this comment – has made a big difference to my life. Bringing mind and body together also seems to make more time……..
It’s hilarious really that it is our mind that comes up with ‘the impossible list’ in the first place and then our mind that then turns around and complains and says the list is impossible! I have found that when I live my life from my body rather than from my mind, the thoughts I get are very different and as you shared here so wisely Ingrid, our bodies have a wisdom that knows how and when to do something and when is exactly the right time to do it.
Ingrid when you mentioned the tactics we resort to when faced with overwhelm for me it was a case of all of the above! Gradually I have come to realise that none of these coping mechanisms actually work and if anything make things worse. Simply staying steady in my connection with my body and taking it one step at a time, one task at a time, has been a very supportive way of overcoming this dilemma.
I know that too Andrew, only when I go for one step at a time life becomes a flow, a succession of steps with the quality of me which in turn confirms the full me in every step I make.
I love this blog, so simple “I knew that I was tired after a very full on year and I knew that I needed to stop” – I have been overriding this in myself, I have a picture in my head of how I should be and live, one that is not true, and stopping me listening to my body. I still think it’s not okay to rest for prolonged periods of time. I had a really full on and tough few months last year, with a close family member passing over, I don’t think I have actually stopped and allowed myself to feel this or how tired my body is. I keep pushing through. And it’s being reflected to me. And actually allowing and saying to myself it’s okay to rest.
It can be so easy to get lost or even consumed by to do lists and either push to get them done… or lack the commitment and put it all off till another day. But few bring the concept of quality into the things we do and yet as you have shown… the power of this is remarkable and what we can achieve incredible.
A simple and gorgeous blog Ingrid. Thank you. I love the analogy of the woodpile – you seeing it slowly move from one side to the other, the conscious presence and ease you did this with without any pressure or expectation and how your body reflected the utter support you gave it. Life lived with one true step at a time is far more nourishing than ten wasted rushed steps that only deplete us.
Such a great sharing Ingrid. You remind me that consistency is key.
It is easy to look at the mountain with overwhelm but when we break down our mountain into small hills and stay fully present, the hills become a joy to face.
Ingrid, you should’ve got someone to photograph you next to the woodpile, turned it into a magnet and added your quote! I can definitely get caught up in busy-ness of life – so nice to have that reflection that we don’t have to rush and put ourselves out to get the job done.
Yes, me too but it’s clear as day that the more I commit to being with myself and present in my day the easier all the daily tasks and jobs are to do.
Brilliant suggestion Nick! Brought my a smile to my face.
Great suggestion Nick; in fact I love it! Maybe it’s time to prepare for winter and chop down another tree!
Cute idea and one that would reflect her lived reflection.
Ingrid, this old picture kept on your fridge for so many years obviously remained there for its great wisdom to be appreciated in full! Your own body reflecting back through illness the inner wisdom that finally brought you back, full circle, to appreciate the truth in your fridge picture.
“One step at a time – anything else is just too tricky!” And at that moment my own words came to me: “With commitment and consistency, and with one loving step at a time, we can move mountains”
For me this blog is like that picture on your fridge, coming back to it today and asking myself “what is one simple thing I can do right now” really supported me to bring it back to basics. We buy into and get sold the notion that the more we do and the faster we do it the more worthy we are, but this only leaves us anxious and exhausted. Focusing on one thing at a time I feel like there is more space around me, less constricted and able to breathe and feel lighter, which then makes whatever I am doing a breeze rather than a ‘my life depends on it’ survival style situation.
When you break things down into bite sized pieces it’s amazing how the impossible turns out possible.
And it’s amazing the quality we end the task in – not depleted or drained but vital and present because we have honoured our body and not left ourselves at the expense of our bodies just to complete a task.
I sometimes use up more energy procrastinating instead of just starting the job and doing it ‘one step at a time.’
I can so relate to this Debra as procrastination has been a long time behaviour of mine, one that I hated with a vengeance but at the same time struggled to heal. When I think of how much time I have spent in this life putting things off or simply pretending they are not there I cringe, but unlike in the past I no longer beat myself up over it; these days I ask myself the very simple question – ‘what it is I am trying to avoid?’ followed by ‘it’s not going away so let’s start with taking ……one step at a time!’
I can totally relate to this too, and a job is so much harder to do once you have delayed it. It’s like every job or thing we do has an allotted time or space for it, and if you delay or miss that time then there’s a drag to doing it later and it’s much harder work.
Amazing. I have just made the connection that taking one step at time is the equivalent of doing one thing at a time. So when I have my fingers in many pies and are doing lots of tasks at once it is the equivalent of walking multiple steps at a time – but, I only have one physical body that can only take one step at a time. No wonder when we get caught in the trap of busyness we feel overwhelmed, we are inundated with too many steps and yes, this definitely makes everything far more tricky.
Great sharing Ingrid, It is lovely to be able to achieve something with minimal effort, purely by taking one step at a time, great wisdom in those words.
This is inspiring, to look at bringing a steady commitment to my daily tasks. Being present and in the moment, not exhausting myself with the extent of effort I can put into tasks by not doing it in full presence.
The message you write here is so important. We are so often in overwhelm of all that we need to do. But this overwhelm doesn’t bring us anywhere but further away from the end result and who we truly are.
‘One step at a time’ seems to be the perfect medicine for the anxiety and overwhelm we can feel at times as if life was too big, too demanding, too difficult, too much to cope with. When it is said that we are equipped to deal with everything life presents to us I feel it is in every step one after the other that we can experience the truth of this statement just as you did when carrying one piece of wood after the other instead of overwhelming yourself with the whole pile at once.
Ingrid,
I love this blog so much. It is supporting me to be very present with my body. I feel there is much change coming in my life, and that to meet it with the steadiness that I only can do, when I am present, is the way to be as the changes occur. The adage one step at a time is a truth we could all connect with and live by.
When we feel overwhelmed by the mountain in front of us we can either give up or drive ourselves to scramble over the rocks as fast as we can in disregard of the impact on our body. When we choose to stay connected to ourselves and take the next step in front of us the next step has already been taken.
I love returning to this story Ingrid, we are taught nowadays to get there as fast as we possibly can, but this method often lacks the foundation to support us once we do get there, whereas what you have described here about taking one step at a time feels rock solid.
Beautiful Ingrid, remaining present and gentle is quite something in reality, even though it sounds simple and easy. I know I am so programmed to ‘get things done’ well ahead of any deeper or more subtle consideration of my body that getting things done the way you’ve described would be quite a challenge.
From my experience, overwhelm is a choice I make to keep myself separated from being and feeling the oneness I am part of. If I don’t choose to be in overwhelm then I am free to be in a flow and do what needs to be done. When I’m aware, I can feel that there is actually time to do what is needed without having to do everything at once. This has been a great support.
I love reading your blog again Ingrid, reminding me to take everything one step at a time. There is no need to go into overwhelm or stress because once I choose to be connected to my body and my task, then everything flows and will eventually get done by applying consistency and commitment. It amazes me how much I can get done and the quality it is done in when I apply this to my tasks.
I love reading it too Chan, as the reminder of one step at a time is too precious to forget. I am always amazed as to how often I need to remind myself of this, but when I do I feel my whole body relax, releasing the tension that had been quietly building from trying to take too many steps at once.
The more I connect to what my body feels like, the more I hear the truth of where it’s at and what it can manage. As much as I might want to move mountains, there are no shortcuts and no magic formula. It really is about making conscious presence the focus in each and every moment: how does my body feel, and from there, what needs doing next.
This shows me that there is nothing that is too much, we only need to take it on and make the small steps needed in conscious presence to move the work we need to do.
Listening to our bodies is everything, I know for myself how easily I ignore signals of my body and delay a stop moment. Just this week I allowed myself a nap in the afternoon before going into my evening shift and it felt so supportive not only for my body but also in the quality I bring to the clients I visit in my evening shift. Commitment and consistency are amazing tools to build a solid connection with our body – step by step, one step at a time.
I can relate to what you’ve shared Doug, overwhelm I agree is a choice. I have learnt how to let go of overwhelm by applying commitment, consistency and trusting what I feel to do and when.
It is incredible what we can do when we apply commitment and consistency. When we focus on what is before us, choosing to stay present and listen to our body, then it feels like nothing is too tricky. I have recently realised how powerful we are when we listen to our body and apply commitment and consistency to everything that we do, amazing flow is present and things get done so effortlessly.
consistency and commitment… Two words that are certainly not appreciated for the quality of life that they can bring when actually embraced, not run away from.
Ingrid, what a very practical and tangible example of how simple it can be if we take it one step at a time, and just stay with that task and see and feel how much we can do while take those small steps. It really shows that overwhelm is a choice or a failure to see the next simple step we can take, and clearly shows we are absolutely ahead of ourselves and our bodies.
““One step at a time – anything else is just too tricky!” And at that moment my own words came to me: “With commitment and consistency, and with one loving step at a time, we can move mountains” – and in my case, a wood pile!” – I absolutely love this Ingrid, and it is such a perfect reminder for us all that it does not pay to go into overwhelm, but it is so worth lifting one wood piece at a time and building the care and consistency and commitment.
This is a simple yet powerful reminder that anything can be achieved. It is actually possible to move wood piles without drive, making sure we are taking care of ourselves, if we choose connection rather than overwhelm.
This is great Ingrid, the depth of meaning and revelation is such a brilliant life lesson. To actually live the experience is such a different feeling than being told. Once lived through the gentle loving commitment and connection to the body it’s not seen as some huge task to do but forms part of our rhythm and foundation of our life. It is quite amazing what can be achieved when our movements are inspired simply from with-in our bodies and not the list from our head.
When there is a big job to be done, it seems too big, and I am often wondering, when will I get to the end? But as you say, one step at a time, and if we can also add appreciation of our being present, rather than what we are doing, seeming miracles can occur.
What I love about your significant wood pile is the fact that, it may have taken some time to create, but the job/task was so enjoyable to you because it didn’t have the drive and push to do it. this is pretty important and extraordinary.
Ingrid, what perfect timing for me as I feel my world crumbling under the stress and ridiculous pressure I feel at my work. A great reminder that overwhelm is actually quite dangerous and that ultimately it’s not worth it. One step at a time.
So true Ingrid, with a consistent and regular rhythm anything can be achieved
When our commitment is consistent and founded on the simplicity of taking one step at a time, one day at a time, it closes the door to complexity and the tricky pictures we have in our head of how life ‘should look and be’ and makes every day much more effortless and enjoyable.
I love what this shares of keeping things in perspective, being connected to ourselves and just doing what is in front of us to be done.
I love revisiting this blog Ingrid. “With commitment and consistency, and with one loving step at a time, we can move mountains”. I am gradually learning to do things one step at a time, rather than go into numbing reaction and overwhelm, so this is a timely read.
What a great learning. And something I need to take heed of more often. I can be a little impatient sometimes and want everything today right then and now. Much to my surprise, it doesn’t work ;).
We can move mountains with ease if consistent efforts are made day in and day out.
It is so easy to put off those stop moments which are really a gift for us, but I know i often ignore them in order to complete what I “need” to do. It is such a self loving choice to stop and feel what is in truth required. Thank you Ingrid- so many lessons for me in this blog.
And the thing is you see, is that is only when we are taking one step at a time that we can actually be ourselves, the with ourselves, be present, and actually take full responsibility for that step… And then guess what?… The next step can tend to take care of itself ☺
I read this blog a long time ago and it’s beautiful to return to it, I think most of us live one billion steps at a time, but what this reminds me is that – ALWAYS quality first, before movement, before jobs, before anything that needs to be done. It’s never ever worth sacrificing the quality of our body.
I loved returning to read my blog today as with a lot going on right now I felt it was time to remind myself how effortlessly I moved that wood pile; and that the current “wood piles” are waiting to be moved with the same presence. And I too have discovered that it is the quality that we commit to before we move that makes every job either very easy or very hard; I know what I choose.
I find your approach to life extra-ordinary. I think almost anyone else in the world would have found someone to help, or paid someone, it really demonstrates what’s possible if we really commit to the task that needs to be done and approach it in an unwavering and steady way.
I had to laugh at your question…”Do you head straight to the fridge?” That has been what I have done my whole life. I recall the first thing I did everyday when I got home from school was open the fridge, peruse it’s contents and then have something to eat and I have done this ever since. It’s been interesting to observe this pattern and my behaviour to understand that I have never really expressed what has gone on during my day, shared the detail of my experiences and because of that eat instead. So I am now learning to open up and express instead. Interestingly how I eat is beginning to shift and I can see through the feelings of hunger…which is true or not true.
That seems like the best diet plan ever Jennifer, share our feelings before we hit the fridge, it could save us a fortune in food bills and leave us only eating what we truly need.
I love this analogy as it is very true in getting back into something that you may have put off and that seems to big, that it is just about starting, taking one step at a time and putting into motion what is there to be done at a steady pace.
Thank you for taking me , the reader, with you Ingrid. I could feel each step and the cool and fresh wind of country New Zealand on my face. This is a great example of how if we take care of the little things big things will follow. We build a rhythm and soon we have a steady foundation.
i know when i am in a flow everything seems easy and i love doing what i am doing in that moment. There is no room for overwhelm when i choose to be in flow with the world.
What I am beginning to feel now is that an overwhelm is a bit of indulgence really. I have observed that sometimes we put things off because it seems too much to deal with at that time, or we may have other reactions that stop us from responding to what is being called for – but really, it could be something so simple it takes us only a minute to do, and leaving it for later leaves opening for it to be forgotten or lost, sitting there undealt with. In overwhelm, we think that we are being given piles, but really, it could be us creating a pile out of little pieces of many that could have been put away so easily.
Loved rereading this again Ingrid for me it is perfect timing as my to do list is getting bigger and I can feel the old overwhelm pattern creeping in. I love how doing one thing at a time takes the pressure and complication out of things. Thank you Ingrid for this timely reminder.
Those moments of accepting where we are, surrendering to the moment and being with our body, our thoughts and our actions, one step at a time are so powerful and so confirming of the expansiveness of life – yet it is so easy to forget, and once I get caught in the anxiousness of it all, I find myself tightening my body, barely breathing and the whole world contracts. Thank you for the reminder.
This is very beautiful Ingrid. It is just what I needed to read in this moment. Taking care of my body with loving movements, while doing things step by step… Simple medicine for my day to day.
The simplicity of just focusing on the next step takes all the complications away.
Beautiful sharing Ingrid. Your story reminded me walking with my two little children. Along our path we had to cross the cattle grids. This was frightening for them and I would say its only one little step at a time.
As we crossed the grids I would tell them the story of a tiny little Indian boy, looked up to his big, strong chief father. The little boy asked “How do I become big and strong like you father?
The father replied ” By eating a buffalo”.
“How do I eat a whole buffalo?” defeated with the impossible.
“One bite at a time, son” the chief replied.
My girls did learn to cross those cattle grids, without fear or hesitation. One step at a time. Consistency and perseverance in action.
This is great reminder to not take everything on at once, but to feel whats next and bit by bit what needs to get done, gets done.
I got a great sense of how the ‘one step at a time’ approach really cut through any overwhelm and helped you to do what was needed and also what was true for your body. And so by bringing it back to the simplicity of the task at hand, and not letting the mind race off with worry, it opens things up and brought back a harmonious flow of activity. Thank you for sharing this Ingrid.
It was only yesterday I found myself getting worked up with the amount to do at work, by the end of the day I felt pretty frazzled. At times like this if I can stop and feel and then make choices from what I feel, the day seems to flow better with more harmony.
Sometimes looking ahead is not needed as the moment we are in holds all we need to know. Being with that moment can be the challenge. I love what you have shared here Ingrid. Thank you.
I like it, moving mountains one step at a time, thank you Ingrid. This can be applied to anything in life, there is really no time then for stress and overwhelm, just the next step to do.
I love this sharing as there is such a simple but important message in it that we can so easily forget or overlook.
This blog is a real inspiration in those moments of overwhelm and ‘where to next?’. Just going with the impulse of what we feel to do next is all that’s needed and if we’re fully focused on that next ‘to do’ as we’re doing it, rather than thinking ahead, sideways and underneath about everything else that could, should, must and has to be done, then we are masters of our moment and never slave to our overwhelm.
It is actually the “thinking ahead, sideways and underneath about everything else that could, should, must and has to be done” that ‘robs’ us of time and exhausts us as we are constantly worrying and stressing instead of focussing on the task at hand.
“One step at a time”. Oh boy, oh boy, does this speak volumes to me. What I see when I read this article this morning is how by placing step 2,3,4,5,6 infront of me I am forcing myself on to a linear path of time. I am pre-mapping, pre-controlling any outcome. Which completely destroys the possibility of a true connection at step#1. And this is what then ‘feeds the beast’. Without the true connection at step#1, I am left feeling empty so race towards step 2,3,4…seeking completion, recognition whatever…and so the merry-go-round continues. One step at a time. It is the only way.
Otto I absolutely love how you have expanded on “one step at a time”, and what you have shared is oh so undeniably true. It’s by catapulting ourselves to steps 2, 3, 4 etc that we lose where we are in that moment, the connection to our self is gone, and our linear mind kicks in ensuring that we are truly taken a long way away from where we actually need to be. Meanwhile step 1 is still patiently waiting to be addressed…and it waits!
I can hear the grounded movements in the words “one step at a time”.Literally that is all we can take!
A classic example for me of this seemingly long ‘to do’ list, is the many times I have looked at my ‘inbox’ of emails and felt in a state of overwhelm and just wanting them all to disappear! Whenever I allow myself to get caught up in the stress and overwhelm, it seems to take forever to get through them (not helped by distractions of visits to the fridge to avoid the activity!). However when I stop focussing on the overall number and just take one at a time (without avoiding the ones I think are more difficult), I am amazed at how quickly I get through them and how much I actually get done (& without visiting the fridge!).
Beautiful blog Ingrid. I feel we are also simply designed to do things one step at the time. I feel best when I am with what I am doing and not thinking about something else, although this is sometimes still a bit of a challenge, the way I feel when I am with myself makes me commit to it every time again. Also with this, one step at the time and with committing to coming back to myself each time in time I will have moved that mountain.
This is an awesome article to reference when we might be getting a bit overwhelmed by life, go back to the basics and take one step at a time
These words mean a lot to me this morning as I read your blog Ingrid – “With commitment and consistency, and with one loving step at a time, we can move mountains”. What I am finding is that the level of commitment and consistency that I can live with is ever deepening and in that is a beautiful way to live life.
I love how taking one step at a time helps to cut out worrying and brings it back to being fully present, from which I can choose to be aware of the quality in the way I do things and bring all of me to the moment.
“With commitment and consistency, and with one loving step at a time, we can move mountains” – and in my case, a wood pile”; we all have a “wood-pile” to move Ingrid, I love coming back to your blog it is inspiring.
Thank you Ingrid for a very inspiring blog, I can get into overwhelm when I think and worry about all the have to. learning to stop and feel where my body is at, can bring me back from the overwhelm. I love these words ”
“With commitment and consistency, and with one loving step at a time, we can move mountains”
I know this overwhelmed feeling very well you are talking about. For me it was a vicious circle – no matter how hard I worked, there were always a lot of points on the to do list. I was completely lost in the doing and I didn’t know how to rest and slow down. Only when I started to attend Universal Medicine Courses I learned how to take care of myself. A very important part of self-care is to listen to my body. My body tells me all the time, what I should do and what I shouldn’t do. It is an ongoing process, but I can look after myself better and better.
It’s thinking about or aligning with time that tends to get me anxious about work that needs to be done. The moment I consider or think about how long it’s going to take and the amount there is to do then I’m gone and caught in the anxiousness and not getting anything done. If we can let go of time and consider that every day is just the same day and that time does not matter at all then bit by bit we can get things done, in a way that doesn’t cause any stress or strain on the body. This is all that’s needed and allows us to gradually grow and unfold in a way that is true for us.
“With commitment and consistency, and with one loving step at a time, we can move mountains” Choosing consistency over overwhelm is the way to go, as you have so beautifully expressed in your blog Ingrid.
A wonderful sharing Ingrid, thank you. I know this overwhelmed feeling of long to do lists very well. That was one of my big mistakes in my past – I had put too many things on my to do list. Especially in the evenings I always thought, I have to continue until the last minute I go to bed. Today I know how important it is to simlifiy my life and that I can only do a certain amount of things on a day.
Me too Brendan. If I am one step ahead of myself the complications start and the clarity stops too.
I keep coming back to this Ingrid and it is an anchoring moment for me because when I feel like I am adrift at sea, aimlessly trying to do it all, I remember this and your writing and I return to do one step (or stroke ;-0) at a time. I adore this line – “With commitment and consistency, and with one loving step at a time, we can move mountains” – thank you.
I wanted to add that in slowing down, I don’t necessarily do things slowly. In fact when I slow down, I get far more done and feel great. The slowing down happens inside. Instead of my motor (my mind – which then affects my body) revving at a faster speed that I can physically go, the slowing down is actually matching my inside speed with my outside speed, so that I am functioning as a whole, not with different parts doing different things.
Agree Brendan, it’s as if in slowing down, and just giving my attention to that one thing I am doing, so much more gets achieved and time is not my enemy.
There is so much we can achieve with this approach to life Ingrid. I know I will often not start something because I look a the size of it and think I don’t have enough time or space to fit it in, but then I just worry about not doing it. At least starting means the first step has been taken, and consistency together with being present in the body while doing is the key.
On rereading your blog this morning Ingrid, this part caught my attention – ‘..Stopping, re-connecting to ourselves and asking what is one simple thing I can do right now?’ I know I sometimes go into my automatic response and don’t always feel the gap or space where I can ask myself that question, but I might stick that question on my fridge door as a reminder.
I have read this blog before but today just so appreciated the message like no other time. Staying with me and my purpose, one conscious step after another, appreciating myself and all that I bring, today I feel like you and the wood pile and can see my efforts taking shape. Thanks for a lovely blog Ingrid.
Thank You Ingrid, for the great reminder of how amazing conscious presence can be and the power of listening to our bodies. So much can be done if we stay with what is at hand without feeling the need to do or be everything at once.
Ingrid what I love of what you share is the steadiness and expansion that our connection to love brings in all facets of life. I have recently brought more support to my body through exercise namely swimming and feel that the deeper commitment I hold for my exercise routine has flowed into many other areas of my life too. I only do a few laps for what feels right for me each time but it is the consistency to the commitment that is truly worth appreciating.
This blog is a fantastic reminder for me that I do not even have to know how big a mountain might be, all I need to do is to allow myself to be with my every step in full for it to be lovingly and firmly planted, and honesty is a great company along the way.
Absolutely Fumiyo. Our mountains can seem huge and monstrous sometimes, however by taking one step at a time and changing things bit by bit, we realise that there is nothing more powerful than our own consistency and commitment which stands much taller than any mountain.
This is a great point Susie and a reminder for me not to put my tasks ahead of the power I hold in being consistent and committed.
I am certainly finding that taking one task at a time, in conscious presence with my body, is a vastly more fulfilling way to live my day than my previous list-driven way that was always a push. This way I can be complete as my day completes, regardless of how much I have actually achieved, knowing that this is not in fact what is important but rather the quality of presence I lived.
Your story is very beautiful Ingrid. So often I feel that I can’t start something until I have a lot of time, energy or focus and yet, with consistency, doing a little each day, I can see the power of this approach in steadily moving on rather than staying stagnant, which simply builds frustration and lack of self worth.
This is perfect timing Ingrid to re-read your blog and enjoy the wisdom you have shared with us all. I have 2 exams coming up and can feel overwhelm at times as there is a lot of work to review, your words ‘one step at a time’ are a beautiful support to stay steady and to not get anxious with the workload.
I am learning how the tension of seeing or feeling that there is more I can give to life can at times also cause an anxiety that feels like a juddering in my body. Even though there may be more, and it may be stupendous what lays ahead – I am not there now and so, learning to be exactly where I am at this moment in time is actually very important because it allows my body to be at rest when it needs to be and not constantly chasing a picture of where I think I should be by now.
Yes Shami, It has also been my experience that not judging myself and simply accepting where I am at is a very powerful tool that removes a lot of anxiety and striving.
One step at a time is a lesson for us all, and with this awareness, great journeys are taken.
I love reading this again. As I finished reading it I felt a great sigh and a lifting of a pressure – just one step at a time and everything will be done.
Anxiety is trying to get me out of my body and I try to find a solution in my head for whatever is presented I think I cannot handle. Quite an exhausting exercise. It is rather simple but of great power to take one step at the time, like you say Ingrid “With commitment and consistency, and with one loving step at a time, we can move mountains”.
So many of the behaviours that we indulge in are so exhausting Annelies, especially when we allow our minds to run the show. I have found that taking one step back to me, stopping and listening to my body, presents me with all the answers I will need, and the momentum of the exhaustion is stopped in its tracks.
I felt overwhelmed recently at how much I had to do and it felt like there was a battle going on inside me. The fight was so loud that I had to bring myself to a place of quiet and stillness in there, and only then could I conceive of doing anything at all.
I have always loved one step at a time, it holds a simplicity and clarity that is precious beyond measure. Thank you Ingrid for bringing such a beautiful example of the power of one step at a time.
Great blog to reflect on, it is so easy to get overwhelmed and dig into the fridge for something sweet and totally lose control over it. Being present in the body and focus at one thing at a time make things so much easier.
Thank you Ingrid. This is such a beautiful New Year’s message for me today – “With commitment and consistency, and with one loving step at a time, we can move mountains”. Commitment and consistency are two very power ingredients to living a purposeful life.
This is a great blog Ingrid and shows that when we are connected to ourselves we truly can move mountains with ease and care. Thank you.
Thank you Ingrid for this wonderful blog. I was touched about it because overwhelm is something I can very much relate to. To read your words made it for me more palpable what it really means to do only one step at a time in a joyful and easy way.
It is so true what you have written here Ingrid in presence time expands.I am currently reading Time Space and all of us by Serge Benhayon, this book clearly exposes the illusion of time and the trap we have for eon’s fallen for.
Ingrid such a beauty full story. As you say 1 step at a time. So easy but we can make it so hard. I know if my house gets a bit messy and I feel a bit overwhelmed then I just do what has been delivered into my mail box, I might see that the sink needs to be cleaned and when I do that the next thing will appear, then before long the house is back in order and a feeling of absolute joy is there to be felt.
What stood out for me reading your blog again was the statement ‘hoping you would make it’. It struck a chord as I awoke with an enormous to do list today and part of it is because I had put stuff off instead of doing it at the right time. I noticed that I can use the line ‘just hoping’ in front of a few things like: I can fit it in, get it done in time, nothing else crops up………rather than changing what really needs to change and sometimes that is asking for help or asking family to step up.
I love your “wood pile” story Ingrid. Thank you for sharing.
This is gold Ingrid! Anxiousness and overwhelm is such a huge and growing problem in our society today. You have so beautifully and simply shown us that nothing is insurmountable and that we all have the power and strength to deal with anything and everything that life presents – one loving step at a time!
There is such a depth of wisdom in your blog Ingrid and it flows with such a natural and gentle strength. It is impossible not to feel and connect with your words “With commitment and consistency, and with one loving step at a time, we can move mountains”.
Thank you Ingrid I so loved reading your article again, it is so inspiring, one step at a time in conscious presence, in every moment. “With commitment and consistency, and with one loving step at a time, we can move mountains” – and in my case, a wood pile!
I love the cradle in which this and all other blogs on the site have been written. We can say that some of the articles and comments hit home whilst others may not seem to quite resonate with where the reader is at, yet all of the articles come with the intent to ‘know thyself more deeply and become a truly more loving and responsible human being’. I find that is a rare thing to come across (especially online) and is something to be deeply treasured and respected. So thank you to one and all, writers, editors, moderators and readers.
Hear hear Dean, it is a delight, treasure and celebration to have all these amazing blogs here for us to connect with.
It’s true Lorraine… I have seen some of the absolute nonsense that is out there on the internet.. in stark contrast these blogs are a breath of fresh air.
I love what you have written here Dean. Your use of the word “cradle” especially stood out and with it comes a clear sense of what you are expressing about this amazing site: an all encompassing platform for the sharing of the life experiences of so many; experiences which many others will be able to not only relate to, but to also be inspired by.
These blogs are unique and I have not seen anything like in anywhere online. They contain such an openness and commitment to sharing experiences in life through the point of view if being self-responsible and with a genuine desire to want to evolve as people.
Yes indeed there so many ways we use to numb ourselves to not feel what is truly going on within our bodies and all around us. I can easily overeat but recognizing this behaviour and simply seeing it for what it is with no judgement offers me an opening to go deeper as to what lies behind this need to overeat.
Yes Caroline, the list of ways to numb ourselves is endless, and when we identify one and remove it from the list you can be sure another tries to sneak in. Just stopping and asking why I feel the need to numb myself at that particular moment has supported me to feel what is truly going on, without judgment, and as a result the list is finally getting shorter.
“With commitment and consistency, and with one loving step at a time, we can move mountains” Love this so simple – so true!
The three “Cs”- consistency, commitment and conscious presence”. What an amazing day we would have if we lived the three “Cs” in everything that we do. Ingrid, you have shown us how this is possible.
Great question Ingrid to STOP and ask yourself “What is the one simple thing I can do right now?” This is like taking a ‘responsibility pill’ of reality and checking in first with our levels of energy and combining this with the task ahead we set ourselves. The gentle weighing up, without the pressure of an outcome. Love it.
No matter how hard we push our bodies, the body knows when it has had enough and brings us to a stop. The body is amazing, super intelligent and forever communicating with us; if only we could pay attention to it!
We can only physically move one step at a time, impossible to do it any other way. We do seem to be able to take more than one step in our heads, no wonder we live out of sync and ten steps ahead of ourselves. This causes a huge gap between our physical and mental being.
Good point Matthew, the answer is connect the mind to the body
Great point you make Matthew, we can only physically take one step at a time, but take many steps in our head, which is where our lives get complicated and messy. If we just stick to the simplicity of one thing in our head, complete that and then another, life would be less messy and complicated.
Ingrid I reread your blog today, I so relate to lists, and trying to balance our lives with all there is to do. The body is incredible at letting us know what’s up when we listen to it, and if we try to override it, it will soon tell us more loudly until we get the message and we have to stop and reassess how we have been living.
What I feel as I read your blog Ingrid is the incredible love and honouring you hold your body in as you take each piece of wood to place in the other paddock. Our body is continually offering wisdom in how it communicates with us in it’s many forms, speaking to us through illness and disease, daily conditions of overwhelm, stress, panic tiredness, general aches and pains, discomfort etc, and when we don’t ignore this but bring support to our body it speaks back to us with further wisdom connecting us with our natural clairsentience, our stillness, our divine essence and the truth of who we are.
So simple – listen to the body and commit to being present – no wonder it feels like magic! Thank you Ingrid, this is a gorgeous blog – I have never felt someone enjoying having had to endure a summer of lung infection and moving blocks of wood so much.
It is great when you feel into what is needed and support the body with conscious presence to undertake each moment. I find when I can hold this level of presence each moment is really enjoyable and the body isn’t left drained.
Something so simple as taking one step at a time can reduce overwhelm, bring clarity and a gentle focus to the present moment. My body is loving this. A beautifully sharing Ingrid thank you.
“One step at a time – anything else is just too tricky!” And at that moment my own words came to me: “With commitment and consistency, and with one loving step at a time, we can move mountains”.
I really love what you have expressed here Ingrid, such a very powerful message.
I think the other thing in all of this is knowing what to say ‘No’ to, or, what it is we’re saying ‘Yes’ to. It may not be viable or realistic to say ‘Yes’ to everything. On the other hand nor might it be true to say ‘No’ to too much. There is a balance to be struck – and it’s also critical to consider ourselves in the process as in “Where is my body at with this?” rather than have the mind leading the show.
I agree Victoria, our mind thinks it can do everything and then we end up feeling exhausted! This has been one of my biggest learnings not to take on too much and I find I have to be consistently on guard as to where my body is at.
Thank you Ingrid for this piece. I can relate to the overwhelm you describe and I love your remedy and that saying on the fridge. I have had a similar sense of ‘one step at a time’ but had never articulated it or the ‘being too tricky’ part. A great little phrase to recall, along with my personal favourite, courtesy of Serge Benhayon: ‘The soul is practical’. I have drawn on that many times when I’ve not quite known what to do when or when things have been too complicated.
I have been learning lately that complication begins when I start to get too far ahead of myself and I am conjuring up scenarios for things that haven’t happened yet. I find that so many possible outcomes present themselves and from this the complication grows and then gets fed some more by my developing overwhelm. To come right back to me and feel what is to be done in that moment instantly brings in simplicity – being practical – and the complications dissolve into the nothingness that they were all along.
I love this too Victoria “The soul is practical”. I had not heard this phrase before but it is now something I will be calling on to support and remind me to keep things simple.
Excellent blog Ingrid, it made me reflect on times when I cannot see the way forward because there are things on in the present that demand my immediate attention and focus. If I get caught up in wanting to know the way forward or what will I do after I lose my presence. If I trust that the way forward will be revealed in good time I can put one hundred percent of my attention and focus to what is before me immediately. As the immediate tasks are dealt with it makes space for the next steps to be revealed.
I have found these words to be so true Bernard; words that I am choosing to live more and more each day: “If I trust that the way forward will be revealed in good time I can put one hundred percent of my attention and focus to what is before me immediately”. No rushing to an outcome, no expectations but just a deep trust, an all knowing, that attending to the little things will take care of the big things.
I like what you said here Ingrid, “attending to the little things will take care of the big things”. Very true for me. When I miss the little things it feels like things don’t flow quite as easily.
So true Bernard and Ingrid, we tend to put aside those tasks that seem unimportant to focus on what we ‘think’ needs to be done. Listening to our bodies and taking care of the small things sets the foundation for the bigger things.
I had thought that ‘men cant multi-task’ was a great get out of jail card for doing tasks around the house where we could say ‘I can only do one job at a time’. Truth is, I have had days where I did not stop all day from trying to multi-task and nothing got done. I find now, to complete something and then move on things just flow in a natural rhythm. There is a reason we only have two feet, it is a bit awkward taking two steps at a time… we are not centipedes.
A person close to me once stated, the reason she gets so much done in her life is that she never wastes time. This is of course open to much interpretation. When connected to this blogs message of taking one thing at a time, it speaks to me of supporting a true quality of living, where for example I might rest when needed but with complete surrender. Or when working, remain very much present with the activity and with my body. I can see how much can be achieved when this quality is chosen. Also through the quality of presence how the choice of activity will be influenced and activities that disturb that quality will fade out.
Yes, and I guess in that quality and the commitment to it, nothing is a waste of time. Is this what the person close to you meant?
This blog came at the perfect time for me. Being reminded by it that it is the simplicity of taking things one at a time and in my own rhythm has supported me greatly in managing a large project at work. Over the course of several days the level of stress felt at work has steadily decreased and my outlook has changed dramatically. Understanding that I can only be present in one space at a time has meant I can focus more on that and not try to manage it all at once.
Thanks for sharing that Michael. I juggle multiple and diverse projects and one thing I struggle with at times is a sense of panic that I’m not quite across everything. But the simple fact is I can only do one thing at a time and it is only in the doing of the one thing at a time that a task gets completed freeing me up to move on to the next. Add the focus Simon mentions below and that feels like the recipe that’s required.
This blog has really highlighted for me the difference between approaching a pile of work in either overwhelm or in consistency.
Consistency is an under-rated quality yet it is surely one of the most beautiful. I married a man with an enormous amount of consistency and the quality and steadiness he brings to everything is exquisite. It has also allowed him to master shift work. I have learnt a lot from him as these were qualities I’d abandoned, lurching instead from over-doing to doing nothing. Slow and steady does indeed win the race.
I can very much relate to the ‘over-doing to doing nothing’ pattern Victoria and seeing it written down like this is super supporting. As I become more present with my body and focus on that which is in front of me without getting distracted I am recognizing that the extremes of this pattern are becoming much less as my energy levels are becoming more consistent. Taking responsibility to committing to being present with me is key.
This has brought to me many memories of doing physical tasks in a way that was really unloving for my body. And, it’s also asking me to slow down and consider that everything I do can be done in a loving way. It just may require a little time to prepare and consider my approach.
I have exactly the same memories Melinda of taking on physical tasks that ensured I put my body into total disregard as I focused on getting the job done, while in utter denial of how my body was feeling; and I wondered why I ended up with strains and pains! These days I have full consideration of whether my body will suffer in any way if I carry out a particular task and if I feel it will, I have no hesitation in asking for help.
I love your picture on your fridge reminding us to keep things simple and the reflection through your blog that when we are consistently present and taking care in each moment, the future takes care of itself. Wonderful and very inspiring.
Thank you Ingrid for sharing your ‘one step at a time’ walk with us. I’m deeply inspired by your dedication to care for yourself during this time and it shows how in taking the loving approach we no longer have to be slaves to time.
This is such a great example Ingrid on how when we don’t put a limit or cap ourselves to what we think is possible but simply allow what ever to have the space to develop and expand in its own way then many many more things are possible.
I had a day yesterday in my office, I had invoices to do, accounts to straighten out, bank statements to file, old contracts to shred the list goes on and on. I have been busy with one thing or another and have kept putting all these things off but had a free day yesterday so decided to get stuck into it. I didn’t finish everything but made a very good start and reading your blog this morning was great medicine in helping me finish it off over the coming days. One job at a time.
Awesome KevinMcHardy, you’ve made a start on clearing the woodpile, and doesn’t it feel great to do so. The next step, and this is for me too, is understanding how and why we let the wood pile build up in the first place and how we can bring one-step-at-a-time into daily or monthly living.
Delving into the reasons behind our “wood piles” getting bigger and bigger is always quite revealing, and it is always an opportunity to change a behaviour or two. For me the answer is more often than not a behaviour that I have long outgrown, but still stay stuck in as it has become so familiar, so it is very liberating to let it go.
I find ‘delving into the reasons for our woodpiles’ works for me.. My soul always prompts me to want to be more, to not stay stuck in a behaviour that no longer supports me, to make different choices. And I’m listening more and more to this still quiet voice and working with, not against it.
Working in a very busy environment currently with substantial pressure on our team it can be easy to become involved in the stress and anxiety of other people. I am learning that staying in connection to me is so important in supporting myself and them through the more challenging aspects of our work.
Thank you for sharing the depth in which you committed to your self care, and that loving oneself is the way to truly have confidence and strength. Your commitment is inspiring. “Instead of stopping, re-connecting to ourselves and asking what is one simple thing I can do right now, we simply choose to close our eyes, figuratively and literally, and hope whatever we believe we can’t deal with will just go away.” this is so true. It is a great medicine to stop and reconnect with oneself, and ones inner heart when times are tough, instead of reaching for quick fixes.
So true Harry it is the best medicine to stop and reconnect with oneself when I am not connected it does not matter what I do I always seem to create more work for myself!
I love what you have said here harryjwhite: “It is a great medicine to stop and reconnect with oneself, and ones inner heart when times are tough, instead of reaching for quick fixes”. In the past I would have been one to have sought the quick fix, and the quicker the better. Now I know that if I choose this “great medicine”, I will not miss the messages and the lessons that the tough times are presenting me with.
Thank you Ingrid, you have shared with us the way to avoid overwhelm in our lives when we react to how much needs to be done and instead of focusing on the big pile we can choose to commit to the quality of each moment and that is all that is needed.
Right now I am facing an accounts back-log, after putting off what needed to be done until now. Your words have inspired me Francisco. Instead of focussing on the big pile, I will ‘choose to commit to the quality of each moment and that is all that is needed’.
Thank you Francisco, after reading your comment I realised that I have to look at the whole picture and then commit to the quality of each moment, especially as it is easy to go into overwhelm if we lose ourselves in the reaction of having to meet deadlines and targets.
It always fascinates me when we live life disconnected from our bodies how easy it is to choose behaviours to numb ourselves even if these are the cause of discomfort and pain in our bodies we still do it because of the ingrained familiarity of not taking responsibility for our choices in life.
That is very observant Francisco. When there is some part of the way we live that is not true it is felt in our bodies, this is a little hint and a opportunity to correct something that is not right. Often however we numb our bodies further so that we do not feel.
Absolutely well said Francisco. But how important it is to listen to our body and make choices that bring up the discomfort in our bodies, rather then numbing them again with devices/suplements and emotions. We are here to recover from our past ill choices – not to continue them.
What a very different world it would be Francisco if we were all raised to take responsibility for every single choice that we make.
Thanks Ingrid, this is beautiful. The deep honouring of your body is something most of us require some sort of major stop in life to even consider, let alone make a daily commitment. I am developing a whole new appreciation for commitment at a number of levels at the moment, and can very much relate to your story, albeit through very different circumstances.
I am really loving the title of this blog. Today, I am applying it to an uncomfortable situation I am finding myself in – in the past I would have wanted to resolve it as fast as possible and come to a conclusion (often prematurely in hindsight), as ‘time’ was a big factor I never wanted to waste; but now I am exploring a different approach that might take a bit/lot longer, yet would leave no space for it to re-occur – one step at a time, I am looking at my patterns and saying no to the outer pressure that wants to ‘correct’ me to suit their agendas and ideals. This feels most loving, and sure it does feel like I can move a mountain.
Fumiyo your comment is super inspiring. Such commitment. Saying no to quick fixes that may cover up cracks temporarily but will only reoccur if the time isn’t taken to properly address the cracks. I know I will remember this when I too am faced with a similar choice.
Wow, Fumiyo, the power to move mountains just by honouring yourself and taking time and space to deliver the true way of being in a situation – love it!
Your words here Fumiyo are just what I needed to read.
Thank-you for your much appreciated expression.
Another Wow from me Fumiyo. Revealing the steadiness and true strength of love.
Fumiyo I can easily relate to wanting to resolve uncomfortable situations in the shortest time possible, but now know that within these situations there is always something to learn and in my rush to feel less uncomfortable I will probably miss out on the wisdom on offer. One step at a time gives me the space to observe, feel and learn, and then the moving of those mountains is an effortless and joyful process.
Indeed, Ingrid. And sometimes it even feels like the mountains have moved by themselves.
Thank you so much Ingrid and Fumiyo, the way you have both lived and learned from’one step at a time’ in connection with your body inspires me to dissolve away my old way of 2 steps at a time. I can feel so clearly how Ingrid your movement in connection of simply moving a piece of wood opens up the space to be able to listen and learn from the body and then nothing that pops up with in life is too hard or complex to deal with.
Fumiyo, this feels like a true completion because we have attended to each step with the time and space we need, allowing ourselves to be complete in the love that we are as we do this.
Your comment is very inspiring Fumiyo. I can identify with wanting to fix uncomfortable situations quickly. That outer pressure we feel to ‘correct’ is very intense. Its a gift to give yourself space in the face of such pressure.
Thank you Fumiyo – exactly what I needed to hear.
I like what you bring in here Fumiyo, it is all that we do that deserves all our attention and not only the things we like to do. When we apply us in our fullness in everything we do there will be no reason anymore to rush to get to the next thing as there is nothing that we need to fill our fullness with.
My woodpile can seemingly grow and grow in one spot without any movements to ‘move it’. This reveals for me the lack of completion in my rhythm – I am more than happy to initiate and get things started essentially building as big a pile as I can – and yet when the steadiness is needed, the consistency to move the pile it all starts to feel a bit too hard. This is great to feel and get a sense of with the woodpile analogy. My usual cause of action is to walk away and start a new woodpile and repeat repeat – great to see this for what this is a lack of love and responsibility for myself and the world I choose to be in. Time for a real commitment to change.
I laughed Lee when I read that you “walk away and start a new woodpile”, as this is exactly what I used to do, often having many little “wood piles” all around the house and garden. It was as if I thought that by building another the first one would take care of itself. Rather hilarious now in retrospect, but simply a reflection of the disregarding space I was in. My commitment to taking one step at a time has resulted in some amazing changes in my daily living, but it is still a work in progress and a very welcome one.
I love this analogy too Ingrid. Starting new wood piles, rather than dealing with the one right in front of us. When woodpiles start to build up it’s a signal that we are living in disregard. I have one at the moment that’s been haunting me, I’m ready to get to work, a little bit cleared each day.
Lee and Ingrid, I felt myself groan as I read these 2 comments of yours as that is exactly what I have done too, set up lots of little and not so little wood piles and often dropped sticks as I move some from one pile to another. Oh Dear! Instead of leaving them all in little dormant piles it may be time to bring them all together into one great big bonfire and set it alight!
Brilliant Ingrid – I am inspired by your commitment to one step at a time.
Oh yes, that’s my game as well. I love Jeannette’s idea of bringing all the little dormant piles all together in one great big bonfire and set it alight!
What a beautiful example of ‘one step at a time’. I know I get bogged down in ‘ticking off’ my to-do list, always worrying that if I don’t, more will be added and I will never get to the end. Stopping and doing only what is required when it is required usually ensures that all is done with very little drive or push. Thank you Ingrid.
I love reading this. This is such a beautiful, heartfelt sharing of the unrivalled quality of taking things step-by-step and not rushing.
The title of this blog makes me just want to slow down. Thanks Ingrid for putting things back into perspective. The quality that comes with doing things one at a time stops the racy feeling in my body and the forgetfulness that comes with over committing to more jobs at any given time.
This blog is a great support to me Ingrid. So many times I have burnt myself out trying to move a giant ‘wood pile’ in a single day rather than committing to consistency. This has led me to associate getting things done with stress and strain – no wonder I avoid starting new projects! It is absolutely awesome to feel what can be accomplished (and how that ‘what’ can be accomplished) with consistency and commitment.
Beautifully shared Leonne, I can relate. If I go into overwhelm, I see the whole woodpile and give up on even the tiniest of steps. Here’s to consistency and commitment.
I can totally relate to the avoidance of beginning new projects Leonne, as our bodies hold the memories of the stress and strain of previous projects, especially if we had put ourselves under extreme and unrealistic pressure to have them completed. How wonderful it is to have finally learned that all we need to do is to take one step at a time, and then add commitment, consistency and of course, conscious presence: the ultimate recipe for “wood pile” moving, and the occasional “mountain”, if needed!
Yes this is beautiful Ingrid and Leonne, to not see and go into the overwhelm but to choose to be consciously present, committed and consistent in all we do that to me seems the absolute ‘ultimate recipe’ in taking life and each moment one step at a time.
Reading your comment Leonne, I can see how I have associated getting things done with stress and strain as well. By physically making myself slow down and taking one step at a time, I can create new associations.
Totally Leonne. I feel Ingrid’s blog is a great support to me and absolutely everyone who reads it. Just imagine how much lighter our world will be when we lovingly shift all those ‘wood piles’!
Yes it is so tricky Leonne how it does that and keeps us from joining commitees, taking on projects, getting involved in something. It is up to all of us to find another way – like Ingrid has done – to get things done without stress or strain (or greatly reducing the amount). One step at a time with consistency and commitment is a good start.
What an amazing blog – I pondered on this today … I love the simplicity in the power this blog delivers. It did not bring ‘tears to my eyes’ but it was an expansion in my heart “one lovely step at a time”. It is what power is commitment and consistency. A simple act daily with the responsibility of honouring your truth. There is a job to do why not give All that you know is True to it.
Whatever job it is that needs to be done, none is more important than any other in the level of attention we give to it, they all add to the beauty of being with yourself, whether ‘doing’ or ‘being’.
Great point Catherine, there is no job that deserves our full presence more or less than any other.
Yesterday I had a mountain of tasks to do, much of it work related. In the past I would have gone into overwhelm, especially when the computer played up and I lost Internet connection for a while. But yesterday felt different. I felt the spaciousness of the day and felt I had the time needed to complete everything. I just took it one step at a time and completed each task in its entirety before moving onto the next, including sorting the Internet problem. It felt like a great marker on how I can be each and every day.
I can relate to the scenario you have described and how it’s been so easy for me to get frustrated and go into overwhelm when I have been faced with something similar. What you have shared here rachelmurtagh1 is that the problem is with our attitude, and not the work itself. How marvelous that you have a new marker where you have experienced the outcome of a different approach.
Ingrid I love the simplicity in this. Bringing things back to basics can be so healing. It is the complication that we can lose ourselves and leaves us spinning in the overwhelm. Focusing on one task at at time and being present, opens and expands time.
Indeed the simplicity of what is shared here contains the magic that appears in the step-by-step approach.
True samanthaengland, I have been on a leadership course this week and there were many similarities in what was being presented and this blog. What’s great is that when we lead from a place of simplicity and space, it inspires others to do the same.
Yes Samanthaengland, we are very good at making things complicated when they could actually be very simple. By staying focused and present with everything we are doing, space does indeed open up and time expands, and then it is amazing what we can do.
Thank you Samantha – this is a great reminder for me right at this moment! I know what you mean by this and how easy it is to spiral into overwhelm if we allow the complication in. Coming back to our gentle breath and gently dealing with one thing at a time is the antidote. By reading your comment and expressing in return and applying these tools my body has settled back into a more harmonious state as I sit here.
Simplicity is the key. I am learning that more and more. And the more we make it simple the more you become aware of how completely draining and time consuming complication is.
So true samanthaengland. So often we are being shown to take one step at a time, and when we override this, in comes the spin and overwhelm. I love how it is so simple and yet so powerful to take one step at a time. Our body knows this inside out.
well said Samantha, simplicity is the key and it doesn’t cost us anything! it justs requires us to be present in our bodies to the best of our abilities and it’s all there for us.
I really enjoyed reading this again and took more time over it too, as if I was walking one step at a time with a piece of wood through the paddock. Today I committed to making more space to take the time necessary to complete certain things without push or overwhelm. Making or allowing space is something I used to be very good at but recently lost in a spot of overwhelm. It has been gorgeous to connect back to to what I need to do for me to support myself to do what I need to do 🙂 and voila, time has expanded and I feel rested though I have also been quite busy as well. So thank you Ingrid for this, for the walk, one step at a time.
I love the feeling when space seems to expand and so allows the time for everything to be completed without push or strain. We are so good at filling up space with things that take us away from ourselves, but to take one step at a time with all of us, offers us a gentle reminder that life is about living every single moment in the joy of being consciously present with our amazing bodies, and when we do miracles happen. Thank you for walking with me Jeanette.
It is beautiful when space expands and we have time to do everything. I have begun to understand the importance of conscious presence in whatever we are doing, as this expands space when we are truly connected.
Yes I agree this spaciousness is gorgeous. I also love how when we feel out of sorts that by simply taking it back to one thing then we can connect to this spacious feeling and feel more connected with ourselves.
As I read your amazing comment this morning Ingrid I was deeply touched because I know this feeling when space seems to expand as well. It is not so easy for me to understand that I chose things to self sabotage this wonderful being with myself. But I can feel that with allowing myself to take one step at a time – is a very good way for me to be more present and with my body and so I am looking forward what will happen . . .
I can totally relate to your comment Jeanette, I felt the discomfort of overwhelm just recently and this blog is a beautiful reminder to come back to knowing that there is so much more than this to enjoy – huge, vast space when choosing to be fully present with ourselves and simply walk one step at a time.
Thank you Ingrid for this great blog!
Jeanette I have committed to making more space to complete things without going into overwhelm and isn’t it fascinating? The more present and purposeful you are the more you can actually take less time completing the task and the process can be so lovely and supportive.
Yes it is fascinating kathrynfortuna, I sometimes find myself feeling that space that has opened up and then looking around for something to fill it with, not realising that it may actually be a moment of Grace before what is next.
Wow I know what you mean Jeanette. Rather than just feeling the expansion and trusting that there is a reason for everything we tend to jump in and fill the space.
Someone once said to me, we are not allowing ourselves the glory of completion and it was like a bombshell went off inside me. And I was like OH YEAH I do that. I have so many half done jobs within a morning – start the washing, get distracted, in the bedroom putting away clothes, answer a call, make a cuppa, leave the cupboard door open etc…. – that I am now commited to staying present and allowing completion as much as I can and staying present with myself as well.
Yes Jeanette I find when moving with presence I can easily complete everything that has to be done, with ample time left over
This is a very inspiring story Ingrid and I can feel how much you have enjoyed this experience. What struck me in this article is the part where you said my body was asking for total presences as I can feel how this would have completely supported your every move and allowed you to enjoy every moment. It is a beautiful way of living that is very inspiring.
I agree Elizabeth and all of the other comments here, that ‘When I take one-step-at-a-time, this allows me the space to be fully present with the task in hand’, i have noticed that if i start to think about all of the things that I need to do then i start to panic and rush and then it becomes about getting things done as quickly as possible so i can move onto the next thing, rather than bringing a loving quality and stillness to what i am doing and to the people i meet, I also make mistakes and usually end up breaking something or hurting myself or someone else if i rush, so for me taking one step at a time and being fully present is a much more lovely, efficient and joyful way of being.
As we build these steps one at a time we get to build a walk of Love and Self-respect for ourselves and then others. Along the way what used to be acceptable starts to become unacceptable as we realise how precious we actually are. This awareness and living is a return to who we innately are and each step is the best learning, understanding and journey I have ever had. Thanks to Serge Benhayon and the teaching of the Ageless Wisdom that he presents.
I agree Elizabeth, when we are consciously present in whatever we do there is a natural flow, almost magical, where things fall into place and we can achieve what is needed without running around like a chook with it’s head chopped off.
“With commitment and consistency, and with one loving step at a time.” Thank you Ingrid such a beautiful reminder that with loving care, presence and one step at a time we can move mountains.
There is so much in what you have written that I love Ingrid but the first thing that comes to me is to share my own “wood” story. Once about 32 years ago I remember being in Brighton in the UK and standing at the bottom of a very, very steep hill that I needed to climb to get home. I had just finished an intense work shift as a nurse, was quite exhausted and didn’t think I would be able to make it to the top. I decided to just take one step. After that I took another step and then I took another step and suddenly I was at the top. It is very much as you have said and it sounds very obvious, but the experience is something else and very valuable!
Ingrid I loved reading your blog, I am learning to take one step at a time, not being in a rush to complete anything quickly, as my awareness unfolds I realise that everything is about quality, not quantity.
Well said, Sally, ‘everything is about quality, not quantity’. We so often override this fact by getting caught up in dramas and stress, but the simple truth is that the lived quality of connection to our essence is what really matters in life.
There is a real beauty in conscious presence, of bringing all of me to the task at hand rather than half there and half onto the next thing or thing after that!
Yes I agree Fiona. I used to be in such a rush to get onto the next thing that I was never there with what I was doing. That way of working does not work for me at all anymore and is also exhausting. There is a whole other way of working that involves being present with yourself, your body and what you are doing that is much more fun, much more productive and can be quite magical!
Ingrid what a beautiful blog. I too have been learning about honouring my body and what it truly can or cannot do. It is a work in progress as I learn how deeply ingrained some behaviours and beliefs have actually been and how much ‘doing’ was still having a hold in my life.
Allowing our bodies the space, to just do what they need to do is so important. We can have in our minds a picture of what is supposed to be done, or how things are supposed to look, but our body does not operate with this agenda. Our body knows how its particles should be ordered, and communicates this to us all the time.
Amelia, your comment reminded me of the many times that my mind driven agenda, and the drive to get it done, was so far away from what my body was ready to do at that moment in time. I became so adept at overriding my body’s messages, so allowing my mind to take control, with often disastrous consequences. These days it is about allowing my body’s wise voice to be heard and working with it, not against it, and as a result, not a disastrous outcome in sight.
Ingrid I love this blog and will treasure its title if I start feeling overwhelmed by a to do list. Love the simplicity. It cuts overwhelm in its tracks. It’s about dedication to applying myself to the task in front of me -so neither hiding my head in the fridge of what there is to do or desperately trying to get everything done at once so I can escape the overwhelm. Thank you for this timely reminder.
“My body was asking for total conscious presence and that is what it got.” What I have found is that every small step I take in being more gentle, present and simply stopping to feel all that is there in my body, is that my body thanks me and repays it back to me, so to speak, I become stronger, more confident, more open to others and the quality my life has improved dramatically. Without the consistent loving support and teachings of Serge Benhayon and the practitioners of Universal Medicine, there’s no way this would have been possible, and of course my willingness to embrace these teachings, my gratitude for them is immense.
“I made a commitment to do this each day and, after a few days, I felt an impulse to add an extra ingredient to my exercise.” I loved the simplicity of what you added to your exercise Ingrid, I feel when we carry out a simple task such carrying wood or cleaning our home, it’s a good time to practice being completely present in our bodies and have our minds with the action of what we are doing, and not racing ahead thinking about the next task, and each time it does, I simply come back to feeling my hands and the task they are performing.
In my experience we get time throughout the day where our bodies tell us to stop, take a moment to re-connect to our body and feel and take note of what is there and simply allow it to be there, these are what I call the ‘little stop moments’, that I can choose to listen to and my day flows much better and my interactions with others also are more harmonious and less reactive!
“With commitment and consistency, and with one loving step at a time, we can move mountains” – and in my case, a woodpile!
I feel the depth of this sentence Ingrid, it is the commitment and consistency to one loving step at a time that holds us steady, confirms us, so we can deeply appreciate all that we are and the glory and magnificence that we have within, and our connection to God’s grace and love.
Gorgeous blog Ingrid, and perfect timing with the countdown to Christmas making it an extremely busy time, where as you said it’s easy to go into feeling overwhelmed and then avoid doing anything. I love the simplicity of picking one simple task that one can do right now and starting it, that seems to create movement and flow that, gets us out of the feeling of being overwhelmed and stuck not knowing what to start with on the long list of things to do.
Ingrid, I love the way you phrase the fourth paragraph as it gently leads me from ‘….whatever we believe we can’t deal with…’ to …… what I don’t want to deal with and therefore choose numbing ways instead. Thanks for breaking down numbing and comfort like this.
Your story about the wood pile Ingrid is such a great metaphor, whether its an unfinished task or project or starting new one, the image of moving one log at a time is one to recall when anxiousness and overwhelm start to creep in.
I answered yes to everything in your first three paragraphs Ingrid, at one stage or another I have felt and done all of those things when anxious and overwhelmed – there is absolute beauty in the simplicity of ‘one step at a time’.
What a great blog and so poignant to how I am feeling today. I have been in a bit of overwhelm of how much I have to get done, but even using the words ‘have to’ is already setting up a momentum of obligation and detachment from the tasks at hand. All that is needed is for me to connect to my body and start on whatever I feel to do, and then just get through it in the time that is needed, then move onto the next thing. No rush is needed, and with no attachment to the outcomes or the success or failures of the tasks at hand a whole load of pressure is taken off and the joy of doing for true purpose can be felt.
I can so relate to the “have to’s” eleanorcooper79, as they used to be a big part of the way I lived, or more accurately, existed. Realising that they came from my mind and were there to keep me in overwhelm was a most welcome and life changing revelation. If I connect to my body the have to’s are nowhere to be seen, but what is there is the amazing wisdom that my body offers me in every single moment.
Absolutely agree Elizabeth. When I am fully present while doing an activity I feel a silky joy that has a spaciousness to it. It is lovely to feel this and be it while doing daily chores or work. When i feel any strain or overwhelm I bring myself back, I slow down and bring attention and intention to my movement with the knowing and memory of the silky spacious present feeling. Then I usually feel it again not long after I have taken responsibility.
Fantastic description of the process and interplay you have with spaciousness, joy and what you do to bring yourself back from overwhelm Johanna.
I love coming back to this blog, Ingrid, and its simple but profound wisdom. Moving one log at a time is a great analogy to take into life, as I often rush and force things to happen at the expense of my body.
True Elizabeth, taking one step-at-a-time with presence does create space. I’m also more aware that when I complete each task fully, and not in a rush start something else, I have more steadiness within and a clear sense of purpose.
I love it how you show here that just a simple commitment to one log each time you went for a walk, without any pushing or needing to get it done, actually did a huge job that you had not considered yourself capable of. A testament to committing to what you feel you can do, and allowing the rest to take care of its self. Beautiful.
I agree Lisa- what I also felt was a detachment from completing the task and making it 100% about the quality and moving with conscious presence – couldn’t we all apply this approach to more every day tasks? I know I could.
Yes Deanne, there was absolutely no attachment whatsoever to getting the job done, it was totally about being with my body, a body that was healing and was asking for 100% presence from me in whatever I was doing. As you ask so wisely: “couldn’t we all apply this approach to more every day tasks?” That’s the biggest yes from me too.
Wow, what a wonderful sharing Ingrid. From this true story I feel incredibly supported to take my own long list and life one step at a time, and that is enough. Mountains will move.
Yes Brendan, it is an awesome example isnt it.
I especially came back to re-read this today because I could feel I was starting to go into a sense of overwhelm with all that I feel I need to do today and feeling ‘under the pump’. I noticed as I felt this that there was a part of me that wanted to just throw in the towel and forget about my responsibilities or simply avoid them by finding something else to distract me. However what I did was go for a walk, and as I walked I simply had the opportunity to be more aware of my body and to be aware of the flow of nature and its lack of imposition… I was able to feel more honestly where I was at, and my reaction and have now been able to come back to feeling all I need to do is one thing at a time…
Oh how I know that ‘throwing in the towel feeling”, and at times there have been so many towels that I haven’t known which one to throw first, but I usually never had the energy to do the throwing anyway. Now to know that something as simple as choosing to go for a walk in as much awareness as possible, can completely turn around how I am feeling is so very liberating, freeing me from the destructive programming that it is impossible to move from this feeling of overwhelm. “One thing at a time” – so simple, so sensible and so life changing.
So true Elizabeth, the headless chook expends much energy, achieves little if anything and we are left fragmented…our body may be doing the task but where are we in the process.
Yes, building a relationship with our body and listening to its many messages is so pivotal to true wellness and vitality. If we stop when it is needed, when we rest, how we move in every moment, what we eat, our thoughts and so this list goes on – the body’s intelligence is a channel that is on 24/7 when we are not hiding under the covers or feeding ourselves with any mode of distraction or numbing to deny the frequency being transmitted.
This is so true Deborah. The most important relationship of all is the one we have with our body but unfortunately this is the one lesson that the majority of children are never presented with. Just imagine the change in the health of the world if this was the first lesson in every child’s life.
Breath and connect, feel your body…a great potential- classes to learn everything about energy and the truth of life.
True Ingrid. Our body is our greatest teacher and wisest friend. It is curious that our way of living is geared towards denying our body, abusing the body, dulling it down or shutting it up. This shows that clearly we know the infinite wisdom on offer through a clear uncorrupted channel and seek to pollute it – for the purity of the body provides for the transmission of our souls wisdom. To reintroduce the importance of the body with simple tools to connect and be present moment to moment nurtured in young and old would turn society on its head and quickly expose the lies we have come to accept and live as the loveless reality and ‘less’, we have chosen for ourselves.
What a beautiful sharing Ingrid on the grace and spaciousness made possible one step at a time. Very inspiring.
It is interesting that even this morning I had a moment of ‘having to do’ a task. Yet instantly I realised that the task is not it – it’s me in the task that matters – I am the most important step. Connect with me and then those steps will take care of themselves.
I had a very similar experience walking with a friend earlier today who had just recently been diagnosed with a heart condition and thus we had only been going for very small and level walks the last couple of weeks.This morning she said she would like to build up her strength again and walk up the hill close to her house. I said we could just do a third or even a quarter of the hill and so we started out. We walked very much in presence, talking without getting lost in the conversation and soon left the markers that I had set behind; we made it all the way up the hill without any exertion and it had been truly enjoyable. My friend was absolutely fine and laughing and joking. There had been no shortness of breath, no heaviness in the legs, just the joy of walking and catching up with each other. And why? Because we hadn’t looked at the whole hill as one big task to complete but had pieced it up into sections and on that day, had easily passed each one of the markers. It might be different tomorrow or the next day, but it taught me that we are much better served by only dealing with what is right in front of us rather than always cast our eyes towards a distant and seemingly unattainable goal – and a word of caution: don’t do this without consulting your doctor first!
Thank you for sharing this Gabriele; it is so inspirational, not just for those going through similar physical challenges, but for all of us. I love that you didn’t look at the hill as one huge “mountain” but broke it down into achievable sections, wisdom that can so easily be transferred to many challenges in life. What wonderful support and wisdom you bring to your friend.
I agree Elizabeth. And when we take things one step at a time, I am less pressured by time and I feel more present when I do them.
I agree Elizabeth, and also with that space to be fully present comes the opportunity to bring more joy each moment instead of the agonizing feeling of overwhelm.
Ingrid, thank you for sharing your experience and such a beautiful wisdom and understanding of how life has a divine order. This is a very timely reminder for me. To take one loving step at a time, as anything else only conjures up thoughts which hinder my connection with my innate wisdom and purpose in the divine plan.
I can relate to what you have stated Elizabeth “When i take one-step-at-a-time, this allows me the space to be fully present….” this is a quality of living life rather than rushing through life and wondering where it went, while we feel possibly exhausted etc…
I relate to this also. There is more space to examine, observe and navigate life when we are present with what is before us. It is our haste, push and drive that leaves us off-kilter, overwhelmed and without ‘us’ and the necessary quality to equip us to live life.
This is such an endearing and touching blog to read, i love it…its simple and loaded with wisdom. Taking it one step at a time, allows the moment for the next to unfold and be with…and the space for our wisdom to surface and hear its words as you shared
“With commitment and consistency, and with one loving step at a time, we can move mountains” – and in my case, a wood pile! Yet this wisdom is for all!
Just goes to show how deep God’s love is for us, by offering stop moments through our body to bring us back to our truth, when we have chosen to override what both God and our bodies have been communicating with us for so long.
Deep down we all know stress and overwhelm are a comfort, they are a choice we make to not live in our full power or light.
Awesome article Ingrid. Approaching life one step at a time with commitment and consistency really is key. And it can be the finer details that truly make the way we live joyful.
It’s amazing how we can complicate life, when simplicity is the key to living a life of truth and joy with God.
Well said Gyl!
What a great blog Ingrid, I love it. I was very recently getting overwhelmed with the amount of work I had to do. I had a growing list and whilst a lot was getting done, I was feeling the pressure from so much to do. During a work meeting, we all realised how much we had been pushing ourselves. I was being run by this driving, pushing energy. I made a choice to stop. Since then I have tended to my home more, my garden, parenting and many other areas I had been giving minimal attention to. In regards to work, I have been doing what presents itself. I check in with my list but unless I have the impulse to do it, I don’t. And it feels incredible. It feels as though space has opened up around me. Before I had train track vision and would focus on my list, but this didn’t allow space for me to feel into what needed to be done. Stopping that pushy energy and stepping out of it was the key for me.
That’s a real learning NikkiMcKee, “I check in with my list but unless I have the impulse to do it, I don’t.” It’s all too easy to override the impulse and be in drive to get things done. To simply feel what needs to be done and trust that, is very empowering.
Yes, it is empowering and the flip side is that the list looses its power over me!
I love the feeling of space you describe nikkimckee, it’s as if everything stops and with it that stop comes the feeling that all that needs to be done can be completed with ease; no rush, no push, no pressure. For me the space offers a feeling of lightness containing no barriers in the way of what I have committed to, and I am always amazed at how much I can complete without effort.
It is completely illogical and irrational what we are able to complete when we let go of time. The impossible can happen. And at other times “nothing” gets done, except the connection with myself deepens and that is everything.
I love how you listened to your body Ingrid and gently exercised by walking in the paddock and moving wood. It seems like something so small yet with the every day commitment your fitness increased which is amazing and shows how we can with gentle exercise build fitness and that it does not have to be necessarily in the gym either.
Yes exercising in today’s society is so focused on ‘power-something’, be that walking, power pilates, etc. goals have to be achieved fast and results gained quickly. It is almost as if we want to make up for all the time we have been ‘lazy’ or in comfort. This is so not in line with what the body truly needs, but who takes the time to build strength with consistency, it seems like nobody has the patience and dedication to do that. So what Ingrid has done is the extraordinary of being ordinary.
Yes Lieke, I agree about the different ways we can build our fitness with gentle exercise. It doesn’t have to be pounding the pavements or lifting huge weights at the gym. In the past I would have made moving the wood a project, something to get done in the shortest time possible and my body would have more than likely suffered the consequences. I definitely prefer the more gentle, and body considerate, exercise option these days, and so does my body!
This is an amazing blog Ingrid and an amazing testimony of the power of commitment and consistency, which can move mountains as you have proven, we just need to build towards it it step by step.
True, this is a great practical example of commitment in action and never giving up on ourselves or remaining a victim to our past choices. We can choose another, more loving one in every moment and build step by step the quality we choose to live,
Ingrid, your blog has come to me at a perfect time and I appreciate what you have shared here. Your words “With commitment and consistency, and with one loving step at a time, we can move mountains” I will take with me as I embark on a big move in the next couple of weeks and have alot to get done. Thank you Ingrid.
“My body was asking for total conscious presence and that is what it got.” In this simple commitment Ingrid you delivered so much. The idea that we are getting more done by going faster is totally deceptive. The only destination this way of being leads to is Exhaustion Town.
To focus on our bodies and being present in whatever we do makes it possible to take one step at another, one task after the other honoring where we at and what we are capable of in this moment.
One step at a time, provides the space to assess, mark and appreciate our progress and to be with and accept our choices before moving to the next.
Yes Deborah, deep appreciation of ourselves and our progress is what opens us up to what is next, and one step at a time allows it to come to us in a way in which we can handle it.
Appreciation and deep acceptance of ourselves – allowing ourselves to be where we are in our learning.
Coming back to this blog I am curious about the giant mountain of things/situations before us and our relationship with it. I have felt that the step-by-step approach is far more gentle and achievable then trying to tackle our whole lives in one giant leap. But where does that perception that we have to tackle it all in one giant leap come from? Because often that brings with it stress and tension and nothing ever gets done, the complete opposite of what we want to achieve so what is the point in trying to tackle life in one choice?. Looking at the steps, even the little ones, is far more supportive as I have found between the first time I read this blog and now.
Ingrid I so enjoyed what you wrote and it is the perfect thing for me to read at the moment. I really got how much I had gone into an idea about what I should be doing, rather than feel what my body is saying to do. I look at all the things I know will support me and want to change it all at once, in total disregard of my body. It is about accepting where my body is at letting that be my guide. Acceptance for me is the key and not wanting to be ten steps ahead of where I am at and what that would enable me to do. Appreciation of where I am at is also an important aspect. Thank you for reminding me it’s baby steps that go the mile -it’s not about running the marathon that can’t be accomplished.
I so agree tonisteenson about letting our body be our guide and making the choice to delete any thoughts that try to convince us otherwise: the “should be doings” and the trying “to change it all at once” thoughts. It is so freeing to know that we don’t have to be run by this unnatural and harmful force forever, often the simplest choice making the hugest difference to our life.
Very true Toni. Many times I have felt myself go into reaction because I have felt that something needs to change. This has led me to push myself relentlessly to try to ‘fix’ things as soon as possible, however, it is a very counterproductive pattern as I end up in more of a mess than ever.
Moving your log pile Ingrid is a great lesson in learning to take one step at a time and how simple this is. So often we see things as a task and push our bodies to finish the job without taking a moment to appreciate what we have done.
I agree alisonmoir, being present with more of me is much more fun than checking out and forgetting what I have just done. It is a constant commitment for me to take it slow, as I often let my mind get carried away with what I have to do even though I have plenty of time to do it. My mind likes to race ahead, so appreciating what I have achieved, and taking one step at a time is a choice, and one that I am choosing more often to slow down the momentum I have put myself in.
There is a great enjoyment that comes from not getting lost in the master plans, and remaining very present with what’s on our plate now. But I don’t just mean being ‘mindful’ as seems to be the popular catch phrase these days. I mean taking it a step or two further, enjoying being with my body yes, very conscious of what I am doing yes, but also enjoying a total confidence where I know that I have everything it takes to handle anything. Now that makes for an extraordinary life.
The perspective of the overall plan gives me purpose and allows me to connect to the whole and see my part and responsibility within this, to think beyond the sphere of my narrow human thinking to the greater Truth of life knowing I am a divine being first, foremost and forevermore- and at the same time, being conscious of my body and with my body in all that i am doing, brings an assurity, a deliberateness and purpose and a sure-footed-ness to life and to my every action, thought and intent.
I can so easily relate to what you say alisonmoir about not taking the time to stop and appreciate all that we have done. It’s like we are so driven to get on to the next job that the one that we have just completed fades quickly into the distance, meanwhile our bodies are bearing the brunt of our ceaseless drive. Exhausting!
Dear Ingrid, I love how you have shared with us an image of such simplicity and clarity – which is offering all of us the inspiration to connect within, and seek the simple answer to our feelings of overwhelm. As we maintain our connection, it’s as though our whole world expands as life returns to a more natural and life giving rhythm – one that is innate and forever calling us back to ourselves and to God.
I love what you have said here Susan: “As we maintain our connection, it’s as though our whole world expands as life returns to a more natural and life giving rhythm”. It got me to thinking about moving the wood pile, and from what you have written I now have such a strong sense of the natural rhythm I moved it in. There was no rush, no push, no goal, just moving in harmony with myself and all around me. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to expand on what was already a most beautiful and healing experience.
I love your story Ingrid. One step at a time is indeed the way to go. Only a few years ago I had only a few friends, was scared of meeting people, wondering what to talk about and the demands they may make on me. Since becoming a student of The Livingness I have expanded my horizon and found some truly lovely people who ask nothing of me but to be authentic, share with them and keep on unfolding as we support each other. The first step was the most difficult, now with each one I am building my own pile of wood.
That’s so lovely to hear Patricia; being authentically you with all who you meet is such an honest and loving way to build your “wood pile: your foundation of friendship. Thank you for sharing.
Learning how to take our time is one of life’s greatest gifts. This never means to be lazy, but rather to be considerate of the bodies that we have.
Yes Shami, time seemingly is such a precious commodity that we often think we don’t have enough of it and therefore try to pack too much into what it is that we are doing in an effort to make more time, which ironically just condenses it rather than makes it feel expansive. The only way we can unchain ourselves from time restraints is through conscious presence.
To let go of the old belief that, by taking my time to do something, or even stop to have a rest when I have much to do, is being lazy has been a big shift for me. Being considerate of our bodies is definitely not being lazy, it is giving them the love and respect that they deserve.
This has and continues to be one of my greatest “life lessons” – being considerate of my body.
In answer to all your questions in the first paragraph my answer to every question is yes, I have had to do lists that go on and on and washing and emails that pile up and yes there have been many times I have headed to the fridge to ‘handle’ this. Like you I have found when I concentrate on one thing at a time time expands yet if I go into the overwhelm I seem to make everything worse!
This is how I come out of feeling overwhelmed too, by focusing on one thing and completing it.
One of the things that helped me enormously some years ago in relation to overwhelm was when Curtis Benhayon shared with me that it was an emotion. Once I started to see it for what it was and how it was an energy I was choosing it was much easier for me to be able to make a different choice. When I fall into the illusion that it is something outside of myself and related to circumstances I get caught up!
A beautiful and inspiring sharing Ingrid, thank you for sharing with us all.
What a gorgeous example to taking one step at a time Ingrid. We can indeed move mountains simply by our loving presence … It is the magic of God at play!
Absolutely agree Suzanne this is a perfect example of the magic of God at play.
This is a great reminder in patience, conscious presence and allowing of life to unfold with each and every step we take and choice we make.
I love this reminder Suzanne – there is a quiet sense of joy and spaciousness filling my body as I stop to really appreciate this.
“We can indeed move mountains simply by our loving presence … It is the magic of God at play!”
This blog is exactly what I needed. The space to give yourself an accepting that everything can be done without an anxiousness and a rushing. Knowing one step at a time you can do what needs to be done. All coming from a connection with your body and how you feel it to be.
Sometimes in the overwhelm we may not know what step to take first and I have found coming back to my body, to my breath, is a great first step.
Yes Simon I find this too, I can get lost in the feeling of overwhelm yet when I focus on my body and being present this feeling disintegrates. What I am starting to realise through the books and presentations by Serge Benhayon is that it is through our movements that can create more or less time, we can choose to be present in every task and movement and watch as time expands or we can get lost in the minds overwhelm and watch time shrink before our very eyes!
Thankyou Samantha, what you have shared here makes daily life and work feel like a lot of fun.
Yes, I agree Simon, bringing it back to the body helps enormously, focusing on the more tangible tasks, like taking a walk, hanging up the laundry, cooking, whilst making sure I am fully present with my body.
That is the only way I have ever found my way back to my body in times of overwhelm too Simon. It is a very important tool to know about.
Thankyou Simon. I find that overwhelm is the signal that I’ve made something outside of me more important than my own connection to me. “Getting things done” takes on a very serious and ominous flavour and life and my worth seems to depend on achieving the goal. There is such a desperation that comes up in me. It’s so silly to consider this because it means I am willing to sacrifice myself for work, as if it’s some almighty holy grail, instead of being with myself and putting my connection first – which makes work quite joyful. After years of being in education and work this way, it’s time to put myself first.
It is amazing that when illness and disease come knocking on our door we are suddenly held much more accountable and we are suddenly forced to make life much more simple and with much more conscious awareness and presence and tenderness in our movements. What a blessing they are then! So why don’t we do these things before we get ill?
Then I went swimming the next day and instead of looking at getting to the other end of the pool I was simply present in each stroke, as if there was nothing after that and it made for a very gracious flow and a feeling of presence and simplicity that felt vitalising instead of tiresome.
That feels so graceful Carolien.
Ingrid, after reading your blog I took it into my day with me and I was reminded by a recent drawing of Serge Benhayon that showed a large bow and a series of smaller bows connected to each other. He reminded us that we always want to take the large bow, the getting there in one big step, instead of taking smaller steps that will offer us each a solid foundation to build the next one on. I have experienced that the large step leaves you without foundation and therefor prone to wobbling and even falling.
The simplicity is in the words that have been repeated again again… one loving step at a time. The loving steps rather than just the steps is what makes the difference.
The simplicity of your words grounded 05 are very powerful… “The loving steps rather than just the steps is what makes the difference” I agree completely, we are often told we need to get from point A to point B but we are not often told that how we get their will make the difference. Dependent on how we get their the outcome of B is very different. We may have a deadline to reach at point B, whether we reach it exhausted/depleted or joy-full and vital will be determined by the quality of every choice we made till that point.
This is a lovely paragraph I felt to share, is there any one who can to relate to this …”Do you head for the fridge looking for the sweetest thing you can find to eat? Or maybe head for bed and dive under the bed clothes and trust that the work angel will do everything for you while you rest in comfort? Do you turn on the TV and disappear into your favourite programme, or do you go for a run, pounding the pavement until your body screams – “STOP!”?” We all have experienced these habits and behaviours in a some determined attempt to block out and numb how we feel and that we are on a treadmill with apparently no purpose. Anything to ignore the patient and beautiful inner voice within us all, saying we are more, life can be amazing and there is true purpose. Some how, some time, these choices catch up with us and we are forced to listen, if we do not choose to listen. This I feel is a fact of life that is beautiful, healing and transformative.
Our bodies speak loud and clear, ill health and ‘accidents’ are clear messages that there is something to pay attention to. It is deeply healing and supportive to begin to listen and observe what the body shares.
You have alpacas! 💕 I loved your blog and your surprise when you saw the pile of wood you have moved with ease and no rush. A lesson for us all.
Thanks for the beautiful sharing Ingrid, and the great reminder of what we can achieve when we bring commitment and consistency to our life.
Ingrid, I was touched by your story – similar to mine in that I got easily overwhelmed by long lists and so much to do. Yet who was creating this list? – I was. Well once I saw that I was doing it, I looked at why I put so much importance on doing and discovered that it was because it made me feel worthwhile. I could never complete the list in the allotted time and yet when I looked back at it I would realize that it didn’t really have to get done and by compressing it all into a limited space of time I would feel a tension and pressure which would stop me connecting with myself so then I would need validation from others to feel good about myself. This created a self-perpetuating vicious cycle. The only way to put a halt to it was by “stopping, re-connecting … and asking what is one simple thing I can do right now”.
I love how you have connected the dots in this comment Sandra. It so simple once it’s down on paper rather than whirling around the mind, this just adds to the overwhelm.
‘One loving step at a time’ feels very powerful, thank you Ingrid.
This is a great reminder Gill. With committing to one thing and consistency not only can we move mountains as Ingrid has shown, but it is a great loving way to keep growing and developing in a gentle and harmonious way.
Awesome Ingrid! What a great unfolding you’ve experienced and now shared with us all. I was going to say what timely post for me to read, as I am very good a cramming everything into a day and increasing the level of ‘tricky’ wherever possible! The truth is, I am always in need of being reminded that “One Step At a Time – Anything Else is Just Too Tricky!”. Sometimes I am able to remind myself of this, and so it’s important that I acknowledge that, and bit by bit, one step at a time, the reminder becomes more and more frequent. Thank you for your reminder today!
I have not even finished reading this article yet….BUT
‘Do you head for the fridge looking for the sweetest thing you can find to eat?’
YES!! Yes I do do this when I don’t know where to start because I am in such overwhelm with my list of ‘to do’s. Hilarious!
I loved that sentence too, Elodie, cracked me up – it is a classic.
““With commitment and consistency, and with one loving step at a time, we can move mountains” – and in my case, a wood pile!” I love this Ingrid. Conscious presence and consistency plus commitment – we can indeed move mountains, one stone at a time.
The simplicity of listening to our bodies – and yet we complicate this self loving act until such times our bodies say enough is enough. A beautiful sharing Ingrid and one that shares we can literally move mountains (to do lists – or wood piles) in our gentleness.
Life has always been a series of journeys in a quest to find something, even if it is just to find our car keys. In all of this motion it is easy to loose our starting and then wander aimlessly. Serge Benhayon is the information booth for lost travelers and provides us a way back to our starting point. We can accept the directions and begin the journey back or continue our walk about. It took a long time, maybe life times to get this far from where we started, but all journeys begin with the first step. We just need to decide which one to take!
A great point Brendan, Ingrid’s blog here shows how she made a difference in her own healing, by listening to what her body was asking for. This is true responsibility.
Agreed Brendan and Suzanne, with illness and disease at epidemic rates, Ingrid’s article has supported us to feel that there is another way and that through taking responsibility for our choices we can turn the tide and start to decrease these rising rates of illness and disease.
I have found it simply amazing to be aware of how committing to the smallest thing then opens the door for the next step to evolve, really easily.
When overwhelm has my hat, I have gone to the fridge, baked a batch of brownies, went to the movies, gone shopping, you name it… But I do it (mostly) differently these days – I often get the thought to eat or distract myself with some other task, but after that thought, I consciously say no to that thought, notice I’m feeling anxious about needing to do many tasks, then I pick one and go from there.
I can certainly relate to this Ingrid, It can be overwhelming when there is so much to do. Nervousness and anxiety are so counterproductive, on the other hand focusing on the next step brings presence and the path becomes clearer.
Music to my ears Brendan. Through simplicity we can realise that we are indeed merely a conduit for energy, and that is the truth!
Ingrid this is just gorgeous. Exactly what I need to hear today – ‘“With commitment and consistency, and with one loving step at a time, we can move mountains”
This is such a beautiful sharing, Ingrid and it inspires me to be more consistant with my tenderness as well, tenderness in moving and tenderness in thoughts.
Thank you Ingrid. A beautiful example of the success of consistency without stepping outside of your capacity and a timely reminder.
I have come back to re-read this blog after being inspired to bring the simplicity of approaching things at work this way and finding that my day flowed much more – to be honest it has revealed that I actually had created it to be not that and be more complicated and troublesome than it needed to be. I am left with the feeling of – time to stop hiding.
Wow I love your honesty here Michael. How deeply healing and freeing to be so honest about your choices. Thank you for sharing.
Absolutely Ingrid, instead of focusing on the mountains that seem to be in life, if we focus on each task as a simple next step in the path of life, we can embrace simplicity and a quality of steadiness that makes what we do purposeful and true. This way leads to actions that are supportive of our body and every person. Living this way is really as grand and powerful as any mountain I can see today, thanks to you.
A great reminder Ingrid and perfect timing for me this blog, as I was wondering how I was going to fit everything in that needed to be done today, now your words beautifully support me -“With commitment and consistency, and with one loving step at a time, we can move mountains”. – So simple and so true thank you.
I read your blog a two days ago and just came across it again. And I had to smile as the ease in the body I feel when I allow myself to do ‘one step at a time’ is incredible. There is no hardness, no tension nor any exhaustion in the daily deeds we need to do.
Great sharing as this is where exhaustion comes from, when we do too many things at the same time, forcing and pushing ourselves through the day, constantly wanting more and the need to have everything done. Quite exhausting indeed….even by just writing it.
Thank you for sharing Brendan, there is such inspiration and true learning for all in what you bring. This is something I shall take with me today.
To really be with myself when doing a task is something I sometimes feel quite challenged by. Particularly if I find myself in a drive and then time seems to close down around me creating more drive and panic! I love what you have shared here Ingrid, it really is a way of being that can certainly enhance our lives on many levels.
I can feel how powerful it is to commit to consistency and follow through. You also show that doing little things over time results in huge things being accomplished. I have suspected this for a while but your story makes things so clear and easy to grasp.
I like the word consistency too Leonne, although it is a word that I know I need to work on, strengthen if you like. Which will then support me in doing things in my every day.
Thank you Ingrid for this powerful reminder that when we simply bring our presence to whatever we are doing we simply bring all that is needed in that moment. As ‘all’ that is needed is ‘all’ of us, our essence through our connection to ourselves and our bodies, through which we then feel the call and knowingly respond with what is needed next. As when we commit to bringing our presence to our daily living, the magic that follows as you have beautifully shared here -‘magic that can unfold when one commits to life and brings consistency to that commitment.’ – then simply becomes our natural way of life.
Thank you Ingrid, and a great reminder that we do have a choice between overwhelm and focussing on what is right in front of us, and without rush or drive, simply enjoying every moment and the quality of presence we are in.
Yes Jenny this gives rise to the meaning of ‘being’ in the moment. Beinging and enjoying being one step at a time. I love it.
One step at a time – and suddenly the big mountain disappears and dissolves into steps, simple steps – and there is always only one step before me. How easy!
I love these words felixschumacher8: “and suddenly the big mountain disappears and dissolves into steps, simple steps”. We often create our own “mountains” but putting off beginning what is waiting to be done, and the longer we put it off the bigger the mountain becomes. And as you say so beautifully, we take one step and the mountain dissolves – now that is true magic!
When you look at it that way felixschumacher8 there can always only be the next step!
Exactly. Another way of looking at it is to accept the absolute and unchangeable fact that our bodies can in fact ONLY take on step at a time. That is all they are designed to do. They can’t leap forward, zoom sideways, jump huge distances, carry mega loads etc…they are perfectly and exquisitely designed to…take one step at a time….thus using or driving them in any other way, will eventually cause a malfunction.
I love this Otto ‘…they are perfectly and exquisitely designed to…take one step at a time’ this means that any other way is a false, a no can do for the push will result in a disruption in the natural harmony of the body.
Love this Otto, their are things we know we can not do to our cars without causing them to break down, for them to do so causes great complication and cost. So we make sure we take care of our cars as our lives can be thrown into chaos without one. Yet our bodies we do not treat the same. We know without a doubt what causes our bodies to break down yet unlike our cars we repeat the same choices. I wonder why this is?
Oh, Laura B – You have no idea how relevant this comment is for me!! In the last few weeks my lack of care for my body has been so extremely exposed through my car. This blog, your comment – it is ALL about the body and as you say it’s insane that we ignore the calls of our dearest and most trusted friend – the body never lies, always speaks the truth and has heaps and heaps more to tell me if I only choose to listen more….humbly ever learning
Ingrid this serves as a great example of what we have within us – a true gauge of where our bodies are at and what is needed to support them. One step at a time seems so obvious yet we so often cross into three or ten things at once to ‘deal’ with modern life. It never works and we always are pulled back at some point to that realisation.
This is gorgeous Lee.
That’s absolutey true Lee. It doesn’t work, even if we think we are conquering everything at the time, the fact is…the body will let us know when enough is enough.
I agree Lee Green that the world today encourages or even champions being able to do multiple things at the same time and who can cope with ever increasing and stressful workloads. This blog blows the myth of multi-tasking out by showing the simple power of getting loads done by doing one thing at a time well.
Multitasking equals a lack of presence no matter how well you ‘think’ you are doing it.
Indeed Lee it is such an example of a flawed belief that we endorse the ability to multi-task as an efficient and productive way to live in modern life.
“With commitment and consistency, and with one loving step at a time, we can move mountains.” Well said!!
There is a great deal understanding and love that we can bring to ourselves when we allow ourselves to take one step at a time.
Yes Jinya and it can also bring a spaciousness that defies time.
Absolutely Jinya the pressure we pile on ourselves to perform is enormous and allowing ourselves the grace, love and understanding to take life one step, one moment at a time is incredibly healing.
“With commitment and consistency, and with one loving step at a time, we can move mountains” Thank you Ingrid for this gorgeous example which clearly shows this statement is not just a good theoretical proposition but reminder of a wonderfully simple practical reality in daily life.
“With commitment and consistency, and with one loving step at a time, we can move mountains” I love this Ingrid. This reminds us that we only need to take care of one moment at a time and everything will fall into place.
That is another great way of putting it Kathleen. Sometimes I find my self living somewhere ahead of the moment I am in – maybe out of anxiousness – in a misguided attempt to be prepared, its exhausting too.
Appreciation of small things in our lives is huge. If we appreciate each moment, make each of our movements loving-we build enormous body of Love.
This has reminded me of the power of consistency. Thank you. I tend to work longer hours at work when pressure build up, reading your blog I am left feeling the potential of how much it would accelerate my career if and possibly alleviate work pressure building up altogether if I worked longer days consistently.
I love consistency, as it builds a rhythm and supports us to work miracles!
What a great lesson learnt here Ingrid – to truly be in each moment will bring us true harmony within when the storm is all around us. Thank you for sharing.
I agree Donna, it shows how power full we are when we simply choose to be with ourselves.
This blog has been very topical for me today Ingrid. I was feeling a degree of overwhelm in what lay before me for the day and in reading this blog it reminded me to take one step at a time. I have had a lovely day and completed many things that were required of me, without the feeling of overwhelm.
I have had a lot to do this week, with assignments and essays due in, working and being home alone. At first i started to feel overwhelmed, like I was never going to get it all done, and because of that I never felt like I had done enough no matter what I did. Then I took one day out of my busy schedule to do what I wanted to do. I knew I had jobs I couldn’t ignore even for a day, but doing them then was not my entire focus, having a day to relax and be with me was my focus. At the end of the day I had gotten a lot done, as well has had a lovely walk and a nap, a bath and watch a movie. I felt compeltely at ease and could appreciate what i had dome without feeling lacking. It has set the rest of my week up to follow suit.
Rebecca, I so relate to what you’re sharing as I have had a similar experience. Just recently I found myself with a few days of nothing scheduled to do which is unusual for me. At first I went into some anxiety about it and then decided to accept the blessing and surrender to what I had been so gracefully offered. I am now feeling totally rejuvenated, alive and vital, which was obviously needed. But this would not have been the case if I had gone into complete resistance to it, a pattern of my past, so much power in just being with ourselves.
I agree – time off is something I often resist – I feel like if i don’t do something i am somehow bad or off, when in truth sometimes a bit of space to rest is just as important as everything else I need to do.
I agree, we have to make the space to be able to chose something other than overwhelm
When in overwhelm we are our own worst task masters, unable to see we are caught on the treadmill in perpetual motion. I like what you have shared here Rebecca, coming to a stop, giving yourself space, and honouring yourself lead to greater focus and clarity. Leaving ourselves out of the equation just does not work.
I agree – overwhelm can sometimes seem like a good thing as it gives us the nervous energy to get things done, but it allows for no other thoughts than panic over the work load, and at other times it just causes a feeling like your doing something whilst nothing gets done, which only increases the panic. I remember at school, stress was encouraged as a way to get good grades – with no consideration how weeks of high intensity stress and work would do to the bodies of the kids.
Many times in my life I have allowed myself to go into overwhelm at the unending tasks and it feels like they are running me. The times when I stop and go ok, one thing at a time, I feel like I am back in the driver’s seat and can then manage all that needs to be done.
I agree Michelle as I have found the same. That when I approach the things that need to be done from my mind, and think about it how much there is to do, I also go into overwhelm and can feel scattered. I have learned that this is a sure sign for me to stop and re-connect to me and the purpose of what it is I am doing. I find that this brings me back to a stillness from which more space opens up and I can then cover all that needs to be done with more presence and a more honoring quality.
And the order in which jobs need to be done just reveals itself to me, it just becomes apparent without the thought process. It’s wonderful!
I can easily relate to that “scattered” feeling Carola. It is as if when we are in overwhelm we are trying to be in too many places at the same time and our particles separate in response. Stopping, feeling and consciously taking the first step instantly brings the particles back together again as we have made the choice to be with ourselves in our fullness: an amazing feeling of re-connection from just one simple and loving choice.
So true Michelle. Instead of being caught up with what is outside we can turn our attention to the one step we are stepping into.
I like the way you describe your turn around and that walking in conscious presence was the key back to more vitality. This is such a wonderful way you have come back to your own health by listening to your body and honouring it the way it wanted to move. The little steps are so important as they all part of the bigger journey, each step is needed to move forward. Many people take way too big steps and fall, because their busy head is rushing 100 miles an hour and the lack of presence is building up tension in the body, from there we fall or bump into things, cut our finger, run into something… Conscious presence is the true key back to our health.
Agreed Monika, it is the mental drive and busy thoughts that rush ahead or have an image of how things should be that set us up to ‘fail’. One step at a time keeps us with our bodies and from there we build with persistence, consistency and patience.
One step at a time was my Oneliner when the company I worked for was taken-over and most of us were fired. This was not my decision and still I had to deal with it. What helped me tremendously was my ‘step-by-step’ approach. It took me away from panic and anxiety attacks, it gave me clarity, it reduced complexity to utter simplicity (next step: feel it & take it!). I developed a deep trust that everything would unfold itself. The process of leaving the company after many years became to my surprise a joyful process! 🙂
I love what you share here Caroline and have experienced the same when having to deal with a confronting issue. In the one step at a time approach it became a dedicated healing approach that allowed me to feel everything that was there and what was needed in that one step before moving to the next. In fact i would say it was actually accelerated approach.
This is the key Marcia. That the one step at time allows us to feel what is going on; before, during and after. Without this, the body is never given the space to feel and communicate – which then begs the question – in what energy is the list actually being done. Suddenly got a flash of another thing. Putting my knife and fork back down on the table at many intervals whilst eating. It’s the same thing. Without that presence, I’m not keeping myself open to what is being communicated.
I love this line Caroline – ‘It took me away from panic and anxiety attacks, it gave me clarity, it reduced complexity to utter simplicity’ – well said. As for me it reflects how empowering it is when we bring our presence to All that we do. And when we do ‘bring it’, we then live with the grandness that we essentially are rather existing in a way that reduces who we are through the limitations of anxiety and all that is not of our grandness.
‘how empowering it is when we bring our presence to All that we do. And when we do ‘bring it’, we then live with the grandness that we essentially are rather existing in a way that reduces who we are through the limitations of anxiety and all that is not of our grandness.’ – this is pure gold, Carola, thank you.
Yes, what a fantastic tool to apply through the more difficult moments of our lives. To simply stay very lovingly with ourselves is such a powerful thing to chose.
Yes, we’re building a house and there are a million and one decisions that need to be made. But what I have learned is that I can only make a decision easily when it is ready to be made, i.e. the right time. One evening I spent 3 hours scrolling through wallpaper choices – the slab hadn’t even been poured yet! I finished with no decision made and a headache! What a waste of time. We need to make decisions one at a time, when they are there to be made, there ends up being a flow to this method, a sense of fun and excitement and zero anxiety. This is the only way.
This is beautiful Caroline: “It took me away from panic and anxiety attacks, it gave me clarity, it reduced complexity to utter simplicity (next step: feel it & take it!)”. I too have learned that to stop then take that one step brings us back to simplicity and any complication simply dissolves, as it has nothing to feed it.
Ingrid, I love this, “With commitment and consistency, and with one loving step at a time, we can move mountains”, this is very gorgeous to remember, I can feel how sometimes i can get impatient with myself and think that I have to do everything at once and this is very overwhelming, but if I focus on one thing at a time and do not go into the anxiousness and overwhelm then it is amazing how everything i need to do gets done steadily and some things that i did not really need to do fall away.
I loved this line too Rebecca, “With commitment and consistency, and with one loving step at a time, we can move mountains”. It seems slow and steady does win the race. Never has any expression said that to be frantic, in a rush, push and stress is the way to be.
“With commitment and consistency, and with one loving step at a time, we can move mountains” – it feels very grounding reading these words, bringing our focus to the hear and now, choosing to do one thing that we can start now, not allowing our mind to race ahead creating a whirlwind of anxiety and overwhelm. Slow and steady, staying with ourselves in the moment with the commitment to continue to do so, thus building trust with ourselves that we can, indeed, move mountains, step by step.
Yes Rachel – ‘to move mountains’, is an enormous statement in itself, it shows the power we have within in how we live, one-step-at-a-time in presence and a richness or chasing ourselves and never is each moment is enough as there is something more to be done ahead etc.
I agree Rebecca. Sometimes I wake up thinking and worrying about all the things I need to do that day, and this overwhelm often either causes me to get up and begin my day with drive and hardness, or stay in bed!! As you say when we take things one step at a time things seem so much simpler; what was once an impossible amount to do becomes very possible when we create space for it.
Ah that old chestnut – so familiar! When I start the day by worrying I’m immediately the slave to time. When I can start the day by making it MY day (which includes a bit of prep the evening before) I find that I don’t struggle with what lies ahead any longer, and then things seem, as you say, simpler. It’s all in the approach!
I can see Susie that waking up in the morning and heading straight into overwhelm from the pressure of all that needs to be done that day, is a sure recipe for an hour or two extra, in bed! – or – if you do decide to get up, you’re in overdrive from the second your feet hit the floor and you start making your way through the things to do list. Exhausting! One step at a time is definitely a more simpler, sensible and exhaustion free way to live.
!!! Susie. Love the two different reactions to the overwhelm!! I don’t stay in bed – but the energy that I sometimes get out of bed with is such that it would probably have been better if I had!! The absolute key is to connect to me first and then see what the day has in front of me. Do this, and I don’t get run away with.
Thank you for sharing this Susie. I get the same thing, either a drive or a stay in bed. The beauty of taking things one step at a time and allowing it to flow feels so amazing.
So True Susie, I feel that when I wake up in motion, thinking of all that I need to do for the day my body feels stressed and tired just thinking about it. when I connect and feel my way though the day, it feels like there is a more harmonious rhythm in place.
What Ingrid and you highlight is, that to do one thing at a time is so crucial. The opposite is multi-tasking, it creates anxiety and the feeling of overwhelmed.
Yes, this is a beautiful sentence communicating vividly the power of how making things simple and staying with the moment allows things to flow and unfold.
I love what you have added here, Jonathan, about allowing things to flow and unfold, so true. When we think of all the things we have to do and our anxiety levels start to creep up, I feel there’s a lot of the ‘control’ we’re using in our ownership of our ‘to do list’ and how we want things done, it separates us ….. to let go of this and allow things to flow and unfold is being open to help along the way, allowing the magic of life to constellate around us, to support us in what we’re doing. Being open to the flow of life and what it brings to us is allowing an open-ness, a sharing of our selves with others and of them with us.
Its true Rebecca I too find that if I listen to my body and do what feels right, then I am amazed at how easy it can be to complete quite enormous tasks. Consistency is vital, when I truly look after my body I find I can work well for long hours and achieve a great deal without all the fuss and bother I used to create for myself by going into overwhelm and stress.
I’m learning too Rowena, that when I take the time to listen to the signals my body is giving me and honour them, it makes such a difference to how I experience my day – no pushing, more flow. This creates more space to observe and understand so much more because I’m not tied up in my head with overwhelm. But I agree that consistency is a vital ingredient and this is something I’m developing.
Consistency is really vital and the ability not to get distracted. Daily life offers so many distractions – we have to be very disciplined to stay connected to ourselves, otherwise we absorb life, e.g. by watching TV, working on the computer.
I recognise this inpatience too rebeccawingrave. I can feel my next steps and rather than allowing them to unfold I can get caught up in pushing and feeling like I have to do it all or make it happen. This can lead to overwhelm, all stemming from my inpatience. Very interesting cycle.
This is very true Rebecca. If we focus on what we are doing rather than the endless list of things to be done we cannot help but complete everything anyway. A great way to get things done without the overwhelm.
Could this be how the great pyramids were built??? With commitment, consistency and presence, everyone and every thing involved on the same page, steadily moving one rock at a time…Seems plausible …
So true Shirley-Ann. ‘Bringing truth to the world, one step at a time’.
Thank you, Ingrid, what a great lesson for us all. This story highlights the absolute power of the moment when we choose to be fully present in it, and how much can be done without being in the ‘doing’ or casting our thoughts ahead of ourselves.
I know a lot of people who are running a hundred miles ahead of being present in the moment– I used to be one of them – there was always that need to do this and that, and it was never be enough. When I come across people who also have this need it always reminds me that I have a choice to not do the same. The tensions in my body from not being consciously present (my mind with whatever my body is doing) is very loud and my mind goes crazy and does not stop thinking that I need to be better, be more ‘perfect’, do this and the next thing…It appears to me that this ongoing program is creating deep separation in our bodies and is the root cause for illness and diseases. Therefore, bringing ourselves back to our conscious presence, being in the ‘right now’ moment with our whole body, and nothing else, is for me the key to bring a stop to this drivenness and craziness of the mind.
This is so true. When we take away the pressure of the doing and just be, much gets done anyway, if not more so, and the quality of that which is done is tenfold.
I have often wondered why we don’t have ‘being’ lists. We are so fixated on working through our To-do lists but we seem to put little comparative emphasis on ‘being’. We gleen more satisfaction from ticking 5 things off our To-do list than we do from doing one thing in connection.
There have been times when I’ve had a busy week, just gotten home from work and looked at the floor, noticing it needs vacuuming. I just notice it, keep sitting with a cool drink, and before long I’m back up and vacuuming it! There is no drive to the activity, no force, no resentment, no exhaustion, just the activity of it, because somehow I was given energy to do the task right then and there. The floor ends up clean and clear after no time at all, leaving me with more energy to do the next thing on the ‘list’. It’s really great to notice that this indeed happens!
Yes Jenny, it is amazing how things can flow so seamlessly once we connect to ourselves and just take one step at a time while being present with ourselves. It doesn’t feel as if we are doing and the job becomes a joyful contribution to the harmony of the whole. This brings back the fun into work so it seems more like play.
Ah yes Jenny, the quality is so much lighter and less fighting when things are done through connecting with yourself and just being. Everything falls into place and everyone else can just feel it.
Yes the ‘To Be’ list may end up being pretty simple….. LOVE 🙂
Indeed Jenny when we are able to be more consciously present with each moment not only does the quantity of what we can achieve seem to expand the quality of what we do increases.
It sure does janetwilliams06. I find when I am present each step along the way that time stretches and so much more is achieved in less time than when I am not present. When I am not, I can waste so much time in my head filled with thoughts and not much gets done.
This is a great blog as you say, highlighting the power of being present in the moment.
Time is malleable, mutating in accord with our state of being – what a concept to wrap our minds around. If I had not experienced first hand I would not have believed it. But it is the absolute truth.
Yes it, and that is why sharing our experiences through these blogs is so important. These blogs are yet another great initiative by Universal Medicine to support humanity.
I agree Jeannette – one step at a time is so important. Multi-tasking doesn’t make sense at all, it is far too complicated and it is not joyful to manage different things at the same time.
Yep Alexander and if there is no joy in multi-tasking then I ask – why do it?
Such a beautiful lesson Ingrid is showing us here, one step at a time, one seed planted at a time, is all we can do in any moment, but done regularly and with commitment we can go wherever we are needed, and grow gardens of love.
I just love what you have shared here Catherine, and your words “grow gardens of love” had me smiling at the picture they engendered. Yes with one step, one seed at a time, and with commitment and careful tending those beautiful love-filled gardens have the potential to grow into something very magical.
This is such a beautiful comment catherine, to plant one seed at a time, done regularly, grows gardens of love.
I got told once that I was a woman that is always ahead of herself – if I am in the shower I am thinking about getting dressed and in the car, if I am at work, I am thinking about what needs to happen after that etc… This blog – and other teachings from Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine and sessions with practitioners – is a great reminder that life is much simpler (and more gets done without ‘breaking the bank’ metaphorically) when you are as fully present as you can muster and bring as much love as you can to any situation. My anxiety levels have dropped significantly since I choose to be present – I still do a lot of ‘running head’ but it is lessening a lot.
Yes, Sarah. It is much kinder on the body to not be in a constant state of motion and anxiety by casting ahead into the future. Dropping into the stillness of the body creates a foundation that we can trust, which supports us to stay in the present with all of our being.
I can relate to that too SarahFlenley. The words “being ahead of yourself” are very apt. We are not with where the body is right at that moment, or with what we are doing. Our minds are ahead of the body and this is a big source of tension for the body. When I cut back on this and started spending more time with where my body actually was, my anxiety levels dropped also.
I can relate to this Sarah, and how being in drive mode takes us away from the moment, trying to tick all the boxes and get everything done, instead of feeling in truth what is there being impulsed to be done.
I agree Janet there is power in commitment to being present in the moment, when we are really present and not allowing other things to corrupt our attention we have a sharper relationship with time, we do things well and then move on quickly, we are more efficient because our attention and energy is not being drained.
So true Bernard. A ‘Sharper’ relationship to time.
Time feels more clear and spacious when we remain present.
So true Bernard, the energy is not drained because we are present in each moment and allow it to complete fully before the movement to the next moment.
Yes Janet – with conscious presence we are much more powerful than when we are just functioning, lost in the doing mode.
Thank you Ingrid for reminding me of the simplicity I can bring to my life when I choose to be present. The daily commitment and practice in taking one step at a time, and letting go of expectations can bring huge change to a life of overwhelm!
Consistency is so important. I spend a lot of time and consideration increasing my consistency. This allowed me to increase my productive working hours from 40 a week to 80 a week. Without consistency I would be completely exhausted all the time.
So true Heather. Simplicity and clarity are available by being present in every moment in all that we do. No room or need for overwhelm.
Thank you Heather and Ingrid, it is indeed a lovely reminder to know that I am the one choosing to complicate my life, when I do so. I CAN choose to keep things simple with one step at a time, to stay present with me and all that I bring, in all that I do.
It is a daily commitment and it does need to be practiced to take one step at a time, to be present with whatever task/activity I choose, but I also know I am getting better all the time in feeling what needs to be done in each moment.
Indeed Heather, “…a huge change to a life of overwhelm!” Which is a game changer by bringing simplicity into our lives and a quality of life, by living the moment and not chasing time…
Yes Heather I love the simplicity of taking one step at a time and the realization that being all we are, in all we do, is all we need to do. In this we are with God.
“With commitment and consistency, and with one loving step at a time, we can move mountains”. This quote for me is about the mountains that we move on the inside. Sometimes there are events, reactions, emotions, hurts that seem to completely define who we are as people and that they shape the type of person that we are. However, when we re-move these mountains that live on the inside, we grow bigger, brighter and wiser than ever before. This is magic.
And what we uncover in the process is an amazing essence – Love, equal to and found in all. Beautiful Matthew.
I hadn’t considered this at all Matthew. Very cool. That these mountains can be the ones inside us too. Pondering it now, I can absolutely feel how this same approach of Ingrid’s is a super supportive way of working through our internal stuff – a to do list that can also often feel overwhelming. I really like this Matthew. And in fact I rush to get my internal stuff dealt with even more than I rush in my external life, so this is a super important reflection for me. Big appreciation.
Absolutely Matthew ‘mountains that we move on the inside’ are equally important. Just this week I have been doing just that. Observing that something needed to change, I lovingly committed to stop repeating a pattern that was unhelpful. I’m into my fourth day and can feel a shift already as the impulse to repeat an unloving choice lessens. Each time my mind leaps to want to change something else, I say whoa! complete this process first and then move on to the next.
Such magic Matthew. We become bigger then we ever thought possible- and yet that’s only the beginning. I love that quote of Ingrid’s too, thank you for sharing it again.
Well said Matthew – be it a wood pile or a seemingly ingrained behaviour, we are capable of moving anything with commitment and consistency. I used to believe that unless I did it all in one go it would never happen. I would have pushed myself so hard and moved that pile in one go, or would beat myself up upon becoming aware of an internal mountain that needed shifting. Nowadays I’m better with commitment and know that it is my commitment that shifts things.
Yes Matthew re-moving these internal mountains sure does allow for more space and a lighter approach to living. 🙂
I agree Mathew, with commitment and consistency we can change anything back into the true essence of our being.
Awesome sharing Matthew, this should be a blog in itself. I had’t considered it like this before but I guess its like seeing an old pattern come up and instead of just letting it run its course, stopping and just dealing with what is in front of you in the most loving way you can. Thank you for this sharing.
I agree Matthew. When we stop running away from ourselves, we can move mountains in ourself. The moment we start to deal with our issues and connect to who we truly are, the journey back to us begins.
Consistently and in commitment I too have to remind myself to treat myself like a baby, with utmost care and delicateness, with undivided attention and tenderness, only when I do so, this body would face every moment of life with joy. This world promotes rushing and getting things done in disregard to how our bodies feel, and have called what is in-truth abuse to ourselves, normal.
Adele that’s great that you have stated that ‘This world promotes rushing and getting things done in disregard to how our bodies feel, and have called what is in-truth abuse to ourselves, normal’. It is indeed a statement of fact.
Does it just Adele? ‘This world promotes rushing and getting things done…’ Just being aware that this is how it is for now helps, and empowers me to still choose differently, in spite of the overwhelm.
Well said Adele – the standard is efficiency and speed, not tenderness or presence. As a society it feels like we are impatient, needing things to be done without a regard of who is actually doing it! I often think of delivery drivers, all we want is the parcel or shipment and get totally frustrated if there is any delay, yet there is no consideration for the man or woman behind the wheel, how there life is or what is going on for them. The more we bring back care and delicateness to ourselves perhaps the more understanding and aware we become of the level of care that is needed in all facets of life.
Rachel, when I read what you have written the word that comes to me is Quality. For me the word Quality speaks of a choice of what energy we align to.
Very true Adele – this is beautifully expressed. Thanks for this reminder about treating ourselves with “utmost care and delicateness, with undivided attention and tenderness” to “face every moment of life with joy”.
Loved this Adele. So well said. Like a baby- allowing things to unfold when needed.
Absolutely Adele, ‘This world promotes rushing and getting things done in disregard to how our bodies feel’, I too have to remind myself to consistently treat myself with care, tenderness and a deep honouring of my body.
I love what you have shared here Adele and I agree that if we took the time to treat ourselves as we would a baby, the quality of our health, our lives and our relationships, would improve dramatically. We all deserve to be treated with the “utmost care and delicateness, with undivided attention and tenderness”: how the world would change if we treated ourselves and others exactly like this.
Powerful words Adele. The world out there doesn’t really help us to stay connected. The more important it is, that we care for ourselves and make sure, that we stay connected and that we don’t allow the world to distract us.
Well said Adele – and that is a great reminder, to treat ourselves like a baby. A baby needs attention 24/7 and the baby always knows what it needs in any given moment of the day. We just have to listen.
This is such a beautiful and inspirational story Ingrid. We can do so much and we don’t need to push or rush or abuse our bodies in the process.
Very true Rosie – the most important thing not to compromise with our body. The body knows what is good for us and what not. To override the signals of our body, would be very harming.
Beautiful Ingrid. I take this approach too if I am starting to feel overwhelmed. I stop looking at all the things I need to do and just take one step and then the next and then the next. Doing one thing at a time consciously present with that thing and not looking to the next. Each thing then gets completed in the right timing with quality and attention to detail, no stress and no overwhelm. Things that are less important seem to drop away and no longer need my attention. This is a beautiful way to live and not get stressed out or overwhelmed.
‘the work fairy’ I love it because that’s just what I do, close my eyes in the hope that it will go away and the work fairy will take over.
Beautiful said Brendan, “It is simplicity that allows truth to be known.” spot on!
Ingrid, thank you for such a lovely article and a great reminder that nothing is too big as long as I commit moment to moment to the quality of my presence.
Yes Francisco, beautifully said and a great reminder that our greatness is beyond compare when we are present with who we are.
Thanks Francisco, I needed to hear that this evening, nothing is too big all we need to do is commit to our quality in each moment – beautiful. And with this all complication goes away, it’s simple each moment in presence.
The way you returned from your illness sets a great foundation for your body, it develops a living imprint and an amazing marker for every step you take from here on.
This is deeply appreciated Ingrid, so true that when we take on many tasks at once, we do none of them properly and feel incomplete and can never get to that point as you did with the woodpile of a little celebration of that completion. I agree that mountains can be moved when we bring to each moment a true quality of presence and connection and apply them to exactly what we choose to make our task or project at that time. This makes all the difference.
I can very much relate to feeling overwhelmed by a task or tasks before me. I tend to procrastinate and put them off until they can’t be delayed any longer, because I feel anxious about my ability to do all or part of the task or to get through a long list of things.
I’ve found that the only way to deal with this anxiousness is, as you say here Ingrid, to just make a start somewhere then move onto the next bit then the next until the task is complete.
Kate I recognise this one, I can work myself up into a tizzy and become anxious about the outcome of something without taking the steps. It’s only when I come back to those steps and stay with each step, doing it to the best of my ability and letting go any attachment to the outcome that I can steady myself, and then I can reconnect to the solidness, that stillness in me, and everything is and and feels possible.
Ingrid I’ve lived most my life with the notion that doing nothing means I’m lazy. What’s funny and a little ridiculous is all the times I thought I had things to do, I was actually wasting a lot of time doing them in a rushed way, side tracking myself when something felt too hard, going from one thing to another and not completing anything and then there was making sure I watched this show or this movie. You moving one piece of wood at a time, helps to show how simple it can be when we stay with our conscious presence, connect with our fragility and vulnerability and listen to our bodies. Such a beautiful inspiring read, thank you Ingrid.
The side tracking and the delaying, I know exactly what you mean. I often see it in children when they think it’s too hard and they try all the excuses and spend more time in avoiding the simple chore than just actually doing it.
Yes Rosie, and I can recall doing the same thing as a child…. honestly though I see how I can do the same thing now. I may not build up cleaning my room in the insurmountable way my children can but I can build up needing to address something with someone or finish a project I’ve started or approach exercise in a similar way.
I really wanted to reply to Aimee, I hope this ends up after her comment!
I had a chuckle reading your response Aimee! Love your honesty! We learn these behaviours as children and still do them as adults at times without any awareness at all…. and now I am off to exercise! Actually, I don’t put off exercise because I love how it makes my body feel…. I delay in other ways…. one of them being a responsible parent and laying down the boundaries. I am getting heaps better at this but still there is a part of me that just wants to turn a blind eye at times rather than just put my foot down.
This is very sweet in how Ingrid has taken the steps to listen to her body, the language that it speaks.
I love the title of this blog as it reminds me that keeping things simple is what always works best!
With commitment and consistency, and with one loving step at a time, we can move mountains, your wise and beautiful words here Ingrid, are a great bridge to breaking old patterns of box ticking and finishing that job, no matter how I’m feeling. Learning to listen to my body was a very foreign concept before, but now when I choose to be with me when I am doing something, that feeling of me in movement, is very lovely to feel and well worth the commitment to consistently make, absolutely.
Yes I have had another realisation … my multi tasking is not necessarily one step at a time… Hmmm I will take ‘one step at a time’ today to observe that and feel the difference with flowing from one thing to another or is it taking on two, three steps at a time!
Great realisation merrileepettinato. Multi-tasking to me was trying to take too many steps at a time, often in different directions and usually ended with me “tripping myself up” and creating a bigger mess than I had in the first place,
It is quite extraordinary the magic that can happen when we are consciously present with our bodies in whatever it is we are doing…time as we know it seems to stand still, there becomes more space to do what is needed, there is no stress or strain as you say Ingrid, and often more is done than planned…all this because the initiative comes from our bodies and not from our minds.
Beautifully said Paula. Through being present with our bodies there is no end to the magic that we can live as we are then divinely guided to live in harmony with all that is needed.
Also I wanted to add that in the past this overwhelm has been a deliberate choice, the perfect excuse to give up. If its ‘all to much’ then I can run away, hide and avoid any responsibility that might come my way. I have been known for sometimes creating lists that are designed to add extra pressure and invite overwhelm in, this is a self sabotage technique from way back. Now when I write a list, I write it with a clear intention, being realistic and supportive rather than the former.
I agree sarahraynebaldwin, in a way we set ourselves up so not take responsibility in life and have an excuse we can use to justify ourselves.
Yes Francisco Clara, I am recognising this set up more and more lately, the person that lays the most pressure in me in my life, is actually me.
Absolutely Francisco. I recognise this one. One trick that I sometimes play is ensuring that I keep enough on the list so that there is always something to do – rather than accepting and taking the opportunity to stop and observe and feel…”I can’t possibly do that I’ve got too much to do.”….it is absolute irresponsibility and it is absolutely an active choice of mine…a game I play.
Agree Francisco, we are good at avoiding responsibility and finding outer reason why we cannot fully commit to life and what has to be done. When we commit there is no pile of wood that could be too big as we know it is not about finishing the tasks, but about the quality we live in.
Yes I agree Sarah a do-able list written with clear intention is a list that will get done.
Haha, so true, a DO-ABLE list is definitely the way to go over a TO DO list! Wish I had of known this sooner with the amount I set myself up with unachievable tasks in the past.
Yes Sarah, I agree going with what is needed or I have found going with something I am suddenly impulsed to do and have no idea why. The few times this has happened have been mind blowing. . . as an example . . . once I was working in my studio making a pair of pants on impulse in a certain colour and strangely enough at a certain long length. As I was finishing them I was thinking how I add better take the hem up as they are too long and the phone rang and a very tall client said she was driving by and could she drop in and discuss a pair trousers she would like me to make for her. She arrived and the pair of pants were like made to order, even the length was perfect!
That is an incredibly inspiring story Kathleen, it really shows the intelligence of the heart. I have had a couple of these experiences and my heart was definitely taking the lead, my mind could hardly even understand, let alone keep up.
Hi sarahraynebaldwin I strongly recommend that you don’t leave your mind completely behind. hahahah
Hilarious and I will weigh up the pros and cons about keeping my mind versus losing my mind, pun intended!!
Thanks for the advice, although my mind and I do not always see eye to eye, it is definitlely a keeper!
A very powerful point sarahraynebaldwin. That we choose to go into overwhelm to avoid and delay what is in truth called for and needed to be done. I can so relate to this and it’s great to be honest and look at the sabotage we go into to avoid the responsibility that we have in any given situation. As it then frees us up from this and we are then able to simply deliver with presence what it is that is needed to be done. Thank you for highlighting this.
Yes, one thing at a time, each task with presence and going to what is needed not what you think you should achieve is the way forward.
Gorgeous and inspiring blog Ingrid. I love this part, “With commitment and consistency, and with one loving step at a time, we can move mountains”. This is certainly very true.
I know them all, the avoidance strategies to escape a seeming demand or overwhelm, and as much relief they seem to offer at the time, true liberation or actually empowerment only occurs when the task ahead is responsibly taken care of.
Too true Alex: when we try to avoid “demands or overwhelm”, is it a very futile exercise as it is only ever temporary fix and as we are using precious energy for the avoidance we are opening ourselves up for exhaustion. Meanwhile the overwhelm actually grows as it sits and waits for us to take responsibility, and acknowledge and take care of it.
Thank you Ingrid, this is a valid an important message that the world over should hear. The overwhelm described in this article is all too familiar. I had a list that I could not get through a while back, I took a short break from work, instead of a holiday, to attempt to get through this never ending list. I ended up having to work for most of my break and when I went back to work the list did not have a dint in it. At first I felt disappointed and overwhelmed but then I took a moment to realise that maybe I didn’t need time off to complete the list….I began to chip away, after work on my days off, one log at a time and in a couple of days I had ticked off a good percentage of the list.
When I/we are consciously present in the body the space opens up for us to feel, see and experience ourselves and life in such a simple yet profound way.
Ingrid I love your sharing and particularly your inspiring words “With commitment and consistency and with one loving step at a time, we can move mountains”. So important to remember how precious we are and that with loving care our bodies will support us all the way. ” To do lists” are just that, things we would like to achieve, some important and others when we feel inspired to do them. To put pressure on ourselves I feel is self defeating and critical, with love it comes naturally at our bodies pace. Thank you Ingrid.
Ingrid I so relate to your list, the on going ‘to do’ list which I now refer to as a ‘ reminder list’. I also had a ‘stop’ experience that had me reassess the way I was living, now I have found the commitment to honouring my body has supported me to be in my rhythm, this has offered me a spaciousness to enjoy life at a different pace and I now live in a flow that encompasses a more balanced mix. It’s actually staying with ‘one thing at a time’ that allows the spaciousness or else ‘ it gets very tricky’
“One Step At a Time – Anything Else is Just Too Tricky!”
Already the title is super inviting. Thank you Ingrid for sharing this.
I have been really becoming aware of the importance of conscious presence. Before I would have so many things going on at the same time and my mind would be everywhere, because of that I struggled with time and completing the things, leaving me tired and exhausted. Now as I work on one thing at a time with my conscious presence, I find I complete more things and I no-longer get tired the way I use too.
I love what you share here Ingrid, thank you so much; you have painted a very clear picture of what a daily commitment looks like and what can be achieved that way. You are inspiring me deeply to take my daily commitments to another level, and to listen to my body more deliberately.
There is still this strong belief that (mostly) women can do two things at the same time. Today (again) at work I was doing something and then something else came in between and I just say out loud: I can only do one thing at the time, I know they say we can do more but this is not true. One step, one thing at the time. It’s all about presence.
Developing conscious presence is a game changer. When we truly are in conscious presence It guarantees the quality of how our next moment will be, therefore there is no need to be anxious or concerned around what is next as this is already taken care of by the fact that we are choosing the quality of our connection in the current moment.
I agree Donna, it is the connection with our bodies that determine the quality of our movement and in that it seems we create whatever space is neeeded for everything to flow.
That is so true Donna, when you are with yourself anxiousness and raciness disappear.
What a gorgeous story Ingrid and a very poignant reminder that one step at a time is all that is required, and when we get ahead of ourselves in our mind, in comes the anxiety and overwhelm. A great reminder for me today – thank you.
What a great blog that has me asking myself what indeed is one simple thing I can do right now instead of reaching for TV or food. It’s a choice to re connect and feel from my body – to listen and not just do something I think would help or have planned ahead, but a commitment to come back to me and be open to feeling.
Such a simple and basic principle,”One step at a time”, it takes the pressure off, stops the worry and it allows us to be with the one manageable thing we’ve chosen to do at that particular time. In fact it’s a real simplifier that becomes an order, leaving chaos and overwhelm behind.
“one step at a time” – is how we learnt to take our very first steps from crawling to walking as a baby.. funny how as we age this very simple or basic support that holds us steady, is given over for speed or being steps ahead to leave us far from steady, or present, and more rushed or in overwhelm.
This can be so true Zofia. When I read “as we age this very simple or basic support that holds us steady, is given over for speed or being steps ahead to leave us far from steady, or present, and more rushed or in overwhelm.” I actually read: “as we age this very simple or basic support that holds us steady, is given over for speed or being steps ahead to LIVE us far from steady, or present, and more rushed or in overwhelm.” And that’s just the point, that we are no longer the master of ourselves when we let go of that steady support but are propelled by the momentum that then lives us!
Yes Sofia. Yes Rosanna. It’s amazing watching babies. In fact they sometimes have so much presence in the now that they totally forget where they put something less than a second ago – or maybe that is just their brains developing – I’m not sure – but it’s super cute to watch and a real reflection for me who is ‘holding active’ hundreds of things in my brain at any one time.
The love and dedication to yourself is inspiring to feel and can be felt all through your blog Ingrid. Beautiful.
Yes, it is palpable in the description that Ingrid deeply honoured herself and her body in the process, a lived truth transcribed into words.
Yes, truly a inspiring testament to the value of honouring and loving oneself.
I just loved reading your story Ingrid and with such a powerful message. Loving commitment and consistency, one step at a time staying connected with what we are doing would support us all to live in a harmonious rhythm. So many live with exhaustion today from pushing though and living ahead of ourselves and this does eventually have an impact on our bodies.
If we viewed all the hurdles in life as wood piles, Ingrid, and made a commitment to deal with them one step at a time there would be such self love and appreciation of how we are in the world, it would be amazing! Thank you .
Yes, I agree Anne. Sometimes I feel the hurdles we experience are mostly self-created. If we can learn to do everything with love, commitment and consistency we would not feel that life is a struggle but one that is full of joy.
I had a whole “pile” of jobs waiting for me this morning Anne and I could feel the overwhelm trying to sneak in, but I read my blog – again – , inspired myself, and took the first step. It didn’t take long for the piles to disappear, lovingly and easily so.
I love that you re-read your own blog before starting on the day. Such a dedication to yourself and your body.
We all know this experience, when we take our time, do things one by one with concentrating on each step – we go through all that is needed to be done.
In rush and overwhelm, we may push through what needs to be done, but both the quality of our body and wellbeing as well as the quality of the end result cannot keep up with when we do it with love.
Hear Hear ! What if we learned from childhood on that the quality of how we feel with ourselves and the quality of how we do things and hence the end result we produce are one package, either love filled or void of love?
That would be great Alex.. And indeed if we as adults make this choice and re-learn to listen to our body and take time out when it is needed, only then we can be a role model for our kids. If not the next generation will even ‘run faster’ than we do.
Well I would say that we would then be building pyramids …
All I can think of is the Pyramids….
…smiling and with you ottobathurst.
Me too ottobathurst!
Absolutely Otto, the need to perform and succeed is the biggest obstacle to get things done as not the doing evolves us, but the being. Being the one in oneness and everything flows.
What a stunning article you have written Ingrid. Thank you. A divine testimony to the power of presence and a show stopping read for all those (myself big time included) who have been running around their lives like headless chickens. A brilliant read. I’d LOVE to see that picture on your fridge.
Beautiful Ingrid, thank you for this sharing, it stopped me immediately as I just was trying to make 3 steps instead of one. 🙂
This blog is an awesome reminder for us to take every step with full presence and love. Very beautiful!
For women specifically there is a great misconception that multi tasking is to be celebrated – you have thrown this out the window Ingrid, for being present with each small consistent task feeds us back richly.
I used to celebrate that I was such a proficient multi-tasker lucindag, little knowing the stress and strain I was putting my body under by trying to do so many things at once; I simply thought that’s what women did. I am now very delighted that my days of multi-tasking are distant memories.
I love this image Ingird, the pile of wood slowly shifting from one part of the garden to the next – a great confirmation of the wisdom from your fridge picture. I am discovering that if I stop putting myself in the way, what I have to do is in fact easy. So often I use excuses/delay, yet when I get down to it is surprisingly straight forward.
Timely reminder, Ingrid. I appreciate your blog, your steadiness, your commitment and consistency. It is very supportive to be aware that “…with one loving step at a time we can move mountains”.
Whenever I am faced with what seems like an insurmountable repetitive task, I say to myself, “One by one, it gets done,” and it always does.
Dear Ingrid that’s exactly the blog to read today 🙂 because since Yesterday and even more today I do feel overwhelmed but interestingly I also feel the heart area and my breast and also my ovaries more, so somehow I feel like ok, calm down, re-connect and trust – surrender and the one step at a time is there – easily so. Thank You with love Nadine
Love it! and a timely reminder.
1 loving step at a time and thereby that lays the foundations for great work to be done.
Brilliant Luke, very well said!
Without all the steps the foundations can’t be laid.
Multi-tasking is a myth – we can only do one thing at a time – we can have several half-finished jobs hanging over us, but it feels great to complete just one thing and to be focused on how our bodies feel as we do that.
A myth I lived for many years at the expense of my body! It is so beautiful to be present in what we do and even though we have many tasks and projects to be done to feel the flow of what is needed at time and let everything evolve from there. The results are spectacular, no exhaustion, less time needed, more space!!
Ha! how true Carmel, multi-tasking is actually physically impossible but we (particularly women) are under the illusion this is entirely possibly, all the while feeling disconnected and overwhelmed as a result!
This makes sense Carmel as we can only really focus fully on one thing at a time.
Yes I’ve been living for years under the pressure of my “to-do” list spilled onto the second or third page and nothing, or maybe very little, beeing crossed off!
This never ending list waiting for me every morning was there as a need to fulfill the necessity to feel worthy and safe having everything under control. I’ve never attained it as the list never stopped growing and growing so I kept pushing and abusing my body for years creating a very high level of anxiety in my body.
This has been my every day nightmare till I rendered to the fact that I cannot control life at all and started to recognise my values.
I love this statement
“With commitment and consistency, and with one loving step at a time, we can move mountains”
It feels so true to me but the more it invite me to be every day more loving with my body, with myself allowing my day unfolding one step at a time keeping away ideas about the way it has to be.
Thank you Ingrid for this blog.
Overwhelm is definitely deadly when it comes to getting something done. It is the poison of purpose. Interesting also to note that usually for me overwhelm means that I have chosen to delay doing what needs to be done and allowed things to build up to that point through previous choices. One of the things I find most uncomfortable about overwhelm is feeling the responsibility I had in creating the situation in the first place.
I had to laugh at the list of possible things that we do when faced with a very long “to do list.” I laughed because the whole list consisted of things that did not include actually making a start on the ‘to do list’! Such is the way to avoid facing the obvious and just doing what needs to be done sometimes. The other reason I laughed is because I recognised this behaviour in me!
Too true Andrew – when we go into overwhelm we do everything possible to avoid actually making a start on that which we have to do. This feeds into the feeling of a lack of time which compounds the overwhelm ensuring that we stay lost in the overwhelm.
Absolutely Andrew and Lee, without the approach of one step at a time we stay out of time with what’s needed and race around the big pile focused only on its size rather than staying with ourselves and getting the job done.
Yes Andrew, I can recognise many times where I have delayed facing the tasks in front of me as they felt too great and too many, yet taking on just one task changes the whole energy of the situation. The stagnant delay can be dissolved with that commitment to doing just one thing, and I often find the rest just flows from there.
Yes I agree Andrew and Lee, and the funny thing is that starting something is everything as it is the opposite of delay. I have found that even if I cannot complete something starting it means you are halfway there.
I had to laugh as well Andrew, but not due to the never ending list with no start, but due to my over efficiency and drive that made me race through life with never having a long to do list. I actually never had this feeling as my overwhelm with life was my constant doing. I had to learn to stop and let go of being so efficient and getting everything done. Through Universal Medicine I learned to appreciate the quality I am with when doing things and not to be focused on the outcome. Today I look at my day in terms of how loving I have been with myself and others.
That’s beautiful rachelandras “Today I look at my day in terms of how loving I have been with myself and others.” This certainly beats ticking off lists. In fact this is what people on their death bed wish they had done more than anything else.
“…. looking out my window at the pile of wood I had moved and being utterly surprised at how big it was. I realised that I had actually moved it all, with no stress, no strain and that it had actually been enjoyable and, best of all, I was now feeling much more alive.” It is amazing when we see the result of being committed and consistent with taking a step at a time. It is such a confirmation that we can evolve if we so choose.
“With commitment and consistency, and with one loving step at a time, we can move mountains” I love this line, it is definitely a keeper.
“With commitment and consistency, and with one loving step at a time, we can move mountains” – absolutely Ingrid, thank you so much for sharing this simple but super effective truth!
I love your wood pile story Ingrid. It speaks many words about how we undertake or view our work load. If one had looked at the woodpile thinking it needed to be moved in one go it would have amounted to much struggle, frustration and stress. Yet moving it piece by piece and focusing on the small steps makes for light and enjoyable work. I’m sold, I’ll take the small steps thanks 😉
I know this ‘paralysing’ effect well Doug, it’s like in the overwhelm of tasks everything else goes out the window, self care and all. When I go into this space now, instead of looking for further distraction or escape in food I am learning to bring myself back to simplicity, and self-care is my first pitstop.
I love this so much! Thank you Ingrid – the profound message you share here allows me to be so tender with myself as I take steps back to being who I am.
What you share is lovely, and very much something I have felt – the lengthy to-do lists and the feeling that it doesn’t end. I also know that if I don’t take time to appreciate what I have done, it is all to easy to feel like I have not done enough, when I couldn’t have done any more.
It’s a simple message and one that can easily be overlooked when we are facing overwhelm – one thing at a time. For me, I find the overwhelm or stress strikes when I think about all the things I need to do but with out doing anything towards the things that need to be done. So it ends up being a frenzy in my mind with no resolve as nothing is getting done. The simplicity of conscious presence is a huge game changer and allows space to just do what is there rather than thinking about it.
When I feel tired, having committed to my 5 blogs per day can feel overwhelming. So I apply the ‘one blog at a time’ and before I know it I have achieved 5 blogs and at times commented on more.
‘One step at a time’ – this can be applied to everything we do. Thank you for your lovely sharing Ingrid.
Absolutely lindellparlour, ‘one step at a time’ is sage life advice!
Just reading again your beautiful blog Ingrid after having done already a lot of things today and more to come I felt to stop and whilst reading reminding myself that it is an trick to fall for getting things done and praise ourselves for having done a lot if we will feel drained and disconnected in the end. Your blog shows we can take the time to complete certain things and do it in the rhythm it serves us best and is honoring our body than we a capable of my more than our mind can comprehend.
What a fabulous story and one that can inspire us to make these changes before our body stops us in our tracks. I love the simplicity of doing one thing at a time and only going as far as your body can handle each time.
Thanks Ingrid, it is so easy to go into overwhelm when we sit and thing about all the things that may need to be done – but that certainly has never worked in actually getting through them. Also if start to go into self-judgment about our imperfections and how much we need to ‘improve’ it can quickly turn into a self-hate fest – this is just an extra sabotage added onto all the rest. Instead by accepting where we are at and use each moment as a learning to grow – one step at a time – growing stronger in trusting our body and its guidance, and enjoy the journey – literally turns life around and it becomes a joy to live each day.
Ha, so true Elizabeth, It’s very interesting and revealing to realise that there is a moment of choice at that second, we can choose overwhelm or we can choose reconnection. It’s so empowering to make a different change from past behaviours, and take one step at a time in appreciation that this is a huge moment, changing a very old pattern that does not serve us.
Having spent many many years being overwhelmed at all I had to do (my never ending list!), I love this reminder Ingrid to take things one step at a time! And it’s not just taking one step at a time, but the quality I do this in that makes all the difference… Not only in the efficiency in getting the job done, but also in the way I feel during and afterwards! I still at times get ahead of myself, but I’m now much more aware that by connecting back to my body, I am offered a choice in exactly what and how I do the next activity.
So true Angela. When I take things one step at a time, I feel great afterwards. Whereas when I rush or get anxious I am tired afterwards. The way I do things affects my body so much more than what I do – in an energising or depleting way.
A while back, I realised that the list is never going to get shorter. So I had to learn to live with it and amongst it. The key for me is two fold. One step at a time. But then also when doing that one step, only thinking about that one step! I am quite good at keeping it simple and not multi-tasking, but can often find that my mind is already ahead of my body. This tension and anxiousness is deadly. Which is why this blog is so stunning in that it illustrates the absolute importance of everything being about the body. If the body is front, centre and background of everything that I do, then I can arrest the mind from whizzing off into whatever is next. Brilliant. I have a very strong image of these two wood piles in my mind and the wellie boots and the alpacas.
Anxiousness and overwhelm are clearly a mind construct that when once given power to can take us miles away from ourselves. Being in and with the body is the one remedy that keeps things simple as the body cannot be ahead of itself hence one step at the time.
Great point Otto, the list just grows and it keeps on growing as we keep on ticking and chipping away at it, no end result to satisfy that part of us that craves for it to be completed. The difference is the way we approach it and I love that you touch on this in your comment Otto. If you know you are already everything, you do not need a finished list to confirm that. Once this is known, the list can go back to being just that, a list of things that you will get to and add to but it doesn’t dictate or define you.
Love your comment Alex. Especially the word “clearly” – “…anxiousness and overwhelm are clearly a mind construct that…” The Hefalump trap of anxiousness and overwhelm is that you don’t have the clarity of mind to see what is at play…but, as you say Alex, being in and with the body allows us to see things with absolute clarity.
This is so true Sarah. So often I have put a list in front of myself and it becomes almost like I won’t start living until that list is done…list first, me second….list first, life second….etc. I have played the same trick with my Inbox – which acts as a list for me of what I need to deal with – the less emails in my Inbox, the better I feel about life. Lunacy!
There is a Chinese proverb that says “The longest journey begins with the first step.” And now we have another, an Ingrid proverb that says “The biggest pile begins with the first log.” Your article Ingrid is proof of just how easily we can make huge changes in our lives just by applying the smallest of actions on a consistent daily basis. It all stacks up (ha ha) and before we know we have moved a mountain within us.
Great analogy rowenakstewart. By taking small steps towards being more self loving and consistently apply it to my daily routine, in time I will be so full of love it will be bursting out of me.
And that is how change occurs rowenakstewart, one tiny step at a time whether it’s a task that needs doing or whether it’s a change in the way we are with ourselves and others. Just taking that first small step is sometimes the biggest step of all and sets a foundation for all the following steps we take.
Love that rowenaksteart, “before we know it we have moved a mountain within ourselves”…and we can then re-connect to the space and enormity of the love that is there.
I like your new proverb rowenakstewart! Indeed consistency feels so key here, for if we commit to this on a daily basis then we build a momentum which confirms what we always knew – that no job is too big for us.
Your blog, Ingrid is such a marker showing us what we can do when we take it steady and take things one step at a time rather than choosing anxiety and overwhelm. The image of the log pile is a strong one and I am reassured and steadied by the feeling of what you describe. I will apply it to all the daily tasks I have in my life. Thank you for writing and sharing.
Your blog is so lovely Ingrid, I am sure this line will stand out for many.. “With commitment and consistency, and with one loving step at a time, we can move mountains” – and in my case, a wood pile!
This eradicates the need for perfectionism and being hard on ourselves when we stumble, and are feeling a little anxious or overwhelmed. Thank you for sharing and I shall remind myself of your words when I am trying to do everything at once at work and stop and re-gather myself and focus on one thing at a time, and not get caught up in the momentum I have created for myself.
And it blows to smithereens our attachment to time. That is what I love about this blog. As soon as we release ourselves from the illusionary shackles of time, it is so much simpler to take care of ourselves. Stunning and game-changing.
An amazing blog that shows in pictures how important it is to make one step at a time. How powerful we are when we are connected with our bodies instead of letting us rule by the hectic of the world. The picture with the wood is absolutely proof for this and you weren´t even exhausted- just the consistency brought the result- great inspiration!
“With commitment and consistency, and with one loving step at a time, we can move mountains” This is how we must look at the state the world is in and how we can change all the greed and hate in the world to love, it won’t happen over night but it definitely won’t go away if we bury our heads in the sand.
Love everything about your blog, Ingrid. Life does get busy and sometimes this can be as a result of us choosing to take on too much, I know I am guilty of doing things that I know I should leave to others, but sometimes the urge to ‘get it done’ takes over. I can feel it’s not supporting me, or others, to do this, it’s time for me to focus on what’s for me to do and let others take care of the rest. Time to keep life simple, one step at a time …..
Yes it is ONE step at time. But step we have to. Even the direction is set. We are on our way back to who we truly are – Energetic Beings, living in true Harmony. We can delay our journey or step up. Ingrid, with your constant choice to step up you did not just move a wood pile – you moved energy, you brought us all forward on our way.
A delightful blog to read Ingrid. I have found that when life has given me a big forced stop (eg illness), baby steps have been the most loving, safe and gentle to take….
This is a great article Ingrid, I can relate to feeling the overwhelm and anxiousness from having a lot of things going on in my life, i always felt this with work, what i have learnt recently is that if i do not go into thinking about it and thus getting stressed about it and just stay present in my body and work through one thing at a time it is in fact fine, I seem to manage to get through the work, what I am learning is that it is really important to look after myself in the process and carry on with my rhythm and self-care and not abandon this when I am busy.
‘I have seen and experienced the magic that can unfold when one commits to life and brings consistency to that commitment.’ Thank you Ingrid for sharing this lovely story of tackling your pile of wood one piece at a time, always with conscious presence. I still have a tendency to lose myself and go into overwhelm with the juggling required of everyday life and this is a beautiful illustration of how simple it can be which I will take with me into my full day.
You ‘had me’ after reading the title of your beautiful article, Ingrid. What you have shared couldn’t be more timely! I had just sat down at my computer feeling very overwhelmed by everything that there is for me to do at the moment …… as soon as I saw your first few sentences I had a big smile on my face and reading all that you shared was a much more loving option than hot footing it to the fridge! Thank you.
Thank you for sharing this experience Ingrid. I love what you share about commitment and consistency and that even if we can only manage one small thing a day it builds up to something much bigger. This is something I might share with my students who are struggling and are in overwhelm with their work, lacking confidence and the commitment to chip away at it.
Ingrid thank you for this beautiful lesson in how we can learn to do things with and from our body instead of from the pressures of the to do list and the mind. For me this is a great inspiration at a time that I am learning to take stop moments and not keep going from one thing to the next.
A beautiful analogy, Ingrid, for ‘one step at a time’. Your commitment to yourself is beautiful. At times I look to the horizon and see how gorgeous it is over there and I am surprised and sometimes shocked at anything that gets in the way. As a consequence, whatever is in the way becomes hard work, as I also become hard with the tension of getting whatever is in the way, out of the way to that gorgeous place. Othertimes I can view the horizon with appreciation and also appreciate whatever is in the way does not need to be hard work, but a gentle exercise in creating harmony and love.
Thank you for this blog Ingrid, and the very important message. I had to chuckle as I remember all the ways I have tried to avoid feeling the overwhelm of many things ‘to do’ over the years. Eating and TV were certainly high on the list! I am bringing more appreciation to each step of the way now, and the quality I can bring to each step, as I re-imprint all the things there are ‘to-do’ in life.
I love this Ingrid, “one step at a time”. Your blog is a delight to read and an awesome reminder to come back to basics, back to the simplicity of the task that is at our immediate hands. And as you say it is then possible “to move mountains”.
“We seem to have so many ways of numbing ourselves when life seemingly gets too hard, and instead of stopping, re-connecting to ourselves and asking what is one simple thing I can do right now, we simply choose to close our eyes, figuratively and literally, and hope whatever we believe we can’t deal with will just go away.” We have the expression and picture of an ostrich burying its head in the sand, and we use it quite frequently. However I do not feel we take it any further than this…do we really take stock of the repercussions of doing this? If we did, I don’t believe it’s something we would joke about anymore.
What a divine lesson Ingrid, thankyou. With the guidance of the Ageless Wisdom, Serge Benhayon, my Soul and my fellow Brothers, I am learning that it is the ability to ‘walk small steps and master each one’ that gets us to where we are going without leaving ourselves behind in the process. For it is the consistency of our love lived that builds the foundation on which we stand.
Beautiful Liane – love your expression 🙂 How inspiring to ‘walk small steps and master each one’ and in ‘the consistency of our love lived’ build a solid foundation with which to truly live our lives.
… and every step we have skipped catches up with us later to be learned thoroughly. We cannot ignore the tiniest little stone when we are building pyramids.
We’re not robots but we sure can treat ourselves as such sometimes. This is a great sharing Ingrid and teaches us that we are not helping ourselves or others when we are in a constant state of anxiety over a long list of chores. It must have been a woman that coined the word ‘multi-task’ but it’s one women must relinquish. Bringing all of ourselves to one task at a time accomplishes much and at the same time honours the body.
And Ingrid I tried to imagine what anything more than one step at a time looks and feels like and it’s chaos in motion, which I feel from time to time and it’s a dreadful feeling. I have realised recently that I need to halt the process of separating from my steadyness very early on in the piece otherwise chaos ensues and I am the energetic equivalent of a busted sofa !
What you share here Ingrid, brings up the word ‘completion’ to me. For in these huge checklists and things I want to get done, theres a drive for a destination and a way life should be. Yet when I feel complete in and of myself, just as you were in sitting with the alpacas in the sun, there comes an understanding that life’s tasks and activities will never cease. There is no end, except to understand our divine beauty and the quality we bring to everything we do, when we are love and complete in truth.
‘There is no end, except to understand our divine beauty and the quality we bring to everything we do, when we are love and complete in truth.’ This is so gorgeous Joseph and I really appreciate you sharing it with us all.
… “re-connecting to ourselves and asking what is one simple thing I can do right now” feels like a real gift and very supportive. On the other hand when all those thoughts want to come rushing in about how to get something done, the mountain grows ever taller and the task at hand can seem unsurmountable.
Yes Gabriele, I can relate to that; and I still remember again and again, from my younger years, and recently talking with a young person…..saying what I used to tell myself: “Once my life is sorted, then I can do this and that”…….well, that point is an illusion I have found. Even with all the things we still need to get done, we can feel like we have a handle on it all, but if we wait until everything is completed, we wait until the day we die, and there will still be things uncompleted I’m sure. This is just a part of our reality, and I feel it’s the same for all of us.
Learning to take one step at a time has slowed me down and made me more aware of everything I do and how I do it, it removes complication and makes life so much more enjoyable, so I am totally with you Ingrid when you say ““One Step At a Time – Anything Else is Just Too Tricky!”
Love the way you share Ingrid that through honouring the body, there can be the right activity that supports the body back into vitality and movement.
Great point Zofia, listening to and honouring our tender bodies is very underrated; no wonder the illness and disease rates are sky rocketing….. so I heed the reminder by Ingrid, thank you for sharing your lived wisdom.
Ingrid, thank you for this blog, I needed to be reminded of this, one step at a time and keep it simple and I love how tangible you’ve made that with moving your wood pile. So rather than get overwhelmed we can come back to us, our breath and keep it super simple, and take that next step.
This blog has floored me…in the most wonderful way. Exposed has been my lifelong need to take 100 steps in a single bound. Exhausting and all too often demoralising. And tricky. One step at a time? Taken with presence and care for myself? That I am willing to explore – starting at work today.
What I love about this blog is that it has made very tangible something I’ve known in my head. That is true revelation.
Yes Dr Rachel Mascord, that was exactly my feeling; Ingrid has just really made it very practical, the meaning of One step at a time. I just love it, and will work on it today, I’m with you on that Dr Rachel! Enjoy!
I can totally relate Rachel, and considered myself lazy if I wasn’t going 100 miles an hour and thinking the whole time about what I needed to do next. This blog has stopped me in my ‘busy’ tracks and evaluate how I am working through and completing the tasks I have at work today.
By honouring and respecting your body, listening to what it could do, not dismissing the small steps, bit by bit you were able to move that whole wood pile and feel fitter and healthier! I can place too much onto myself, trying to do too much at once or wanting to, without realising the value of my each step. Working with what the body can do is a great part of this story for me. Thankyou Ingrid.
What stood out for me in your blog Ingrid was the fact that you had this knowing all along, but it was in your head as a piece of information. It’s only when your body physically experienced that you could move a mountain of wood, one loving step at a time, that the penny finally dropped.
Isn’t that interesting Debra, it goes to emphasise, we can have all the information and knowledge in the world but until we experience and live it we don’t embody it.
‘Yes,’ to your opening question Ingrid. In fact I have different categories of lists and two apps on my smartphone to help me organise them! Getting stressed about not getting it all done is a very old program that can still run in me. I love what you have shared with us and this comment in particular is very inspiring – ‘“With commitment and consistency, and with one loving step at a time, we can move mountains.”
This is so very inspirational, Ingrid. Thank you! I work in a very busy office and always have something that needs doing or that is calling for my attention, and I often get overwhelmed with it all. Your beautiful advice to just take it that one step at a time in conscious presence is invaluable.
I love what you’ve shared here Ingrid, thank you. One step at a time dissolves the overwhelm or excuse that something isn’t possible because it’s too big a task.. And brings joy to the moment as I’m allowing myself to be in it and do what is there to be done rather than pushing to do more in a disharmonious way.
thank you for bringing in the joy Fiona, I am learning this too, if I can be simply with myself and the one task at hand I can stay in the joy of feeling the flow and the connection within myself. IN stead of trying and doing it then becomes simply being.
I agree Fiona, that is what will support me more at taking care of an ongoing task at work, which, when I look at the hugeness of it, is really daunting, but when I look at each step, enjoying competing that, it becomes very manageable, without going into any pushing about it.
How timely your blog is Ingrid and so inspiring. Looking at my paperwork pile today, I felt overwhelmed and closed the door! I shall re-read this blog tomorrow and take one step at a time, remembering your pile of logs and how gently focusing on the job at hand, the mountain was moved.
Thank you Ingrid for making me smile and to feel a warm glow in my chest. It is so often we hear words of wisdom, which we only acknowldege many years later. “One step at a time” are ones I have heard for many years but not always appreciated or put into action. Your sharing has brought a depth of connection to them that makes them much more meaningful for me.
Wisdom is sometimes not appreciated by us, specially when it comes as simple. To ponder on…
This is an area in which I have still been experimenting to try to find a way to keep up with what is presented to me to learn from without using lists to delay and without causing anxiousness. This feels so simple -building a steady and gentle momentum one step at a time. I also like Simon’s comment further up this thread on being playful with his lists.
This is perfect Ingrid. I can relate to choosing the distractions when I feel I just don’t know where to start and putting my head in the sand. Doesn’t stop the anxiety though whereas choosing just one thing to start with and not looking at the rest of the ‘pile’ always, always banishes the paralysis from my body.
Ingrid, I just went for a walk after reading your blog. I was in some overwhelm but your words asking “what is one simple thing I can do right now?” helped me to stay with me and just feel what is the next thing to do.
Overwhelm is like a poison, it keeps us well and truly away from our selves. It can be very debilitating when left unchecked, to bring our focus back to the body is a beautiful way to reconnect and once again feel the familiar flow and warmth of all that we are.
This is great Annie. It just confirms how powerful it is when we share something that comes from our body and our experiences. We never know how this may support and/or inspire others.
Great message Ingrid- to take one step at a time, especially when presented with a multitude of things to do. But what is most important here is the quality of how we do things and being consciously present with our bodies.
“With commitment and consistency, and with one loving step at a time, we can move mountains”
Love it! Thanks Ingrid.
All it takes is one little step at a time and we can truly conquer mountains in the space and quality we truly deserve. That is deeply honouring of our commitment to our bodies. Thank you Ingrid.
Simply start and stay very present with what you do is the best way to get things done. If I go into ‘I have to do this, this and this mode’ I am ahead in time and my body gets anxious over that. When I am connected to my body it also often shows me what to do first and from there things unfold, unless, like you shared Ingrid, I choose numbing after being connected, then nothing works and the pile gets bigger and bigger.
I love the simplicity of this. My approach would have often been to see the big job that’s needed, worry that I wouldn’t have enough time so go bull at a gate and get in there and get it all done then feel stuffed and not able to move for the next day therefore wasting more time. This lesson is so simple- one step at a time but makes so much sense.
Yep Kristy, it’s such a simple choice – stress and struggle or the ease of “one step at a time”!
Thank you Ingrid for this simple message of honouring and staying with our bodies.. and for the reminder of consistency with commitment.
Ingrid this is a deeply inspiring blog to read and enjoy. That dreaded ‘to do list’ is a mental and hideous tyrant over the body. I love how you simply stopped (thank you infection!) and began to truly listen to your body and made steps to heal yourself, log by log in presence with your body. Thank you!
You have pared back life to the simplest of equations Ingrid… ‘to take more care of my body and to love me like never before..’ A beautiful and supportive read. Thank you.
Ingrid, what a gorgeous sharing! And I so love how you have talked about the overwhelm that we can so commonly go into which can then lead to losing the trust that we are totally capable of the things that we take on to do. But exactly as you have ‘prescribed’ (not really but I like to see it as a loving script) – it is about just choosing the one simple thing that we know we can do and are capable of and starting with that! From there, before we know it, the wood pile has been moved, by our own commitment, consistency and love. Thank you for this timely and gorgeous reminder!
Thank you Ingrid, this was so beautiful to read, it brought tears to my eyes, as my pattern of taking on too much and going into overwhelm, lately has come up. I love these words ” “With commitment and consistency, and with one loving step at a time, we can move mountains – and in my case, a wood pile!”
It’s interesting Ingrid how we can think we are offering ourselves moments to stop, when actually we continue unabated. Thank goodness for the honesty of our bodies, not only to bring us to a point where we stop, but then helping us to reflect on how we are when we do all that we do.
Your image of a log-by-log approach to any to-do list is going to stay with me – a great strategy for heading off overwhelm. What’s particularly poignant is the fact that you felt great while moving each piece of the pile and not exhausted after it – simply by doing the project one log at a time. Thanks for sharing your findings.
Inspiring and so joyful to read Ingrid. As I was reading it at one point I started thinking of all the things i had to do this morning — and i noticed how i drifted further and further away. Instead of me there was the anxiousness and overwhelm creeping in. Until I stopped and reconnected to the joy of what you are sharing here — one thing at a time with our body in line, in conscious presence. It’s a completely different and amazing quality we can live with every day.
So true Katerina. The anxiousness and overwhelm only creep in to fill the gap of us leaving ourselves. When we stay put with ourselves there is no room for these issues.
I appreciate what you have shared here Ingrid. One step at a time – a choice to either keep life simple or make it complicated.
Love it, deidremedbury, ‘One step at a time – a choice to either keep life simple or make it complicated.’ Thank you.
Thanks deidremedbury, that’s absolute gold!
This is beautiful Ingrid…we can get so caught up in the overwhelm that getting those things on the list done can become bigger than Ben Hur and even taking that first step can be quite a process! To be aware of our bodies and to follow what we feel needs to be done next removes this whole angst…life becomes so much simpler, and everything seems to get done without even trying!
I can so appreciate this Ingrid. I use one step at a time a lot and it supports me just to stay with what is needed in that one step and not any more than that. This brings a simplicity that i can deal with and attend to with conscious presence and enjoyment.
Feeling the commitment and ‘structure’ in one step at a time feels very supportive, and, as you share, Marcia, it brings our focus to the ‘hear and now’ allowing us to feel our conscious presence in all that we do. Beautiful ….
As well as conscious presence and enjoyment, when I am simply with the task at hand, I do a way better job. I give all my focus and care to that one task, including how I move and treat my body. The quality of the ‘finished product’ is always lovely when I work in this way, and I feel lovely too.
The analogy you use Ingrid of transporting the wood, bit by bit really does sum up the message of “One Step at a Time”. It is like building blocks, one move builds on the next and then the next.
Well said Shevon. This is how we can approach life too – instead of overexerting ourselves and trying to move the whole pile in one go, we can build a foundation one log at a time, taking time to repose in between and ensuring we look after our body in the process.
Thank you Ingrid this is a great story and I very much agree“With commitment and consistency, and with one loving step at a time, we can move mountains”. It is not the time and quantity that counts in which we do things but the quality we do it with.
Ingrid, we have all got big “piles of wood” to be moved and at times it seems daunting and overwhelming. But if we move one piece at a time feeling our bodies as we go it is all possible and can be achieved in a loving way. You have showed us a living example of this and how relevant this is when at times we all feel loaded up and have huge “piles of wood” to clear!
I love this simplicity Ingrid, in fact as you describe it, it shows how pressured we make our lives when we concern ourselves with more than the task at hand. It’s been an easy trick for me to fall for too, but I realise it’s neither a productive one or a healthy one.
Ingrid your blog would support many who live with high levels of anxiety and perfection over getting everything done. Bringing simplicity back and honouring the quality in which we complete these things to do lists.
How fantastic to have such a visual confirmation – reading this made me stop and realise how I can see and appreciate the changes that people are making around but could really pay a more attention to the changes I have made for myself. Meeting Serge Benhayon 9 years ago has inspired me to take steps each day back to myself.
Being unwell forces a level of conscious presence onto the body and it is exactly what the body needs, It’s like medicine for the body. The body can reset and have an opportunity to re-learn and maintain a consistent, conscious presence as the pace of life is often much faster that we should be moving and we get caught up in it.
I have found my body loves nothing better than conscious presence. Me being solidly with my body actually and responding to it, feeds it with energy and stops the usual drain when I focus outside myself.
Great point Matthew, being unwell can be an absolute blessing if we choose to stop and truly let our bodies heal and choose to heed what our bodies communicate from that point. Illness can actually provide a much needed opportunity to stop, reconnect and reflect when we have got caught up living to the crazy pace of the world, rather than the pace of our choosing.
Lovely story Ingrid, a single but consistent drop of water can wear away stone, your story reminds me of the strength in that kind of consistence and presence.
Not being afraid of the mountain ahead, but moving it piece by piece with commitment and consistency turns monumental tasks into easy-going joy.
Thank you Ingrid. I absolutely love your sharing. I smiled when I read about the magnet on your fridge- something so simple offering so much. How fabulous that you through your lived experience made this magnet a reality.
Such a lovely blog. I can feel how horrible rushing feels and the gorgeous knowing that everything will take care of itself if we take care of ourselves first.
It’s amazing how little pictures or reminders on our fridge can be so powerful. We have a picture of a guy on our fridge that reminds me every time I stop to look at it what love really is and where we can go as humans if we adopt this love for all equally.
Thank you so much Ingrid, this was such a timely piece as I have taken the day to catch up on some paper work that has got way out of control. Yesterday I hurt my back by lifting something too heavy for one person and so I didn’t get up at my usual time and stayed in bed, throwing my day out right from the start.I now have to look at everything I have to do today including picking my daughter up from school, grocery shopping and cooking dinner as a pile of wood that needs shifting.
This is just what I needed to read today.. thank you
Thank you Ingrid, I agree, the more I have put into a consistent routine, the fitter and more vital I feel. Doing a consistent routine as in Danielle’s exercise class at Re-Connect Exercise has always returned me to my next level of awareness of what I am feeling in my body.
What a beautiful sharing, the simple and practical steps that you have taken are truly moving mountains, and I feel this deep glow of appreciation deep inside. Reading this confirms for me that each problem/issue/illness can be dealt with when we address it, one step at a time. This is truly a powerful message for me tonight and I am grateful that I read your blog just now. Thank you dearly Ingrid.
Yes, so simple but so very honouring of our bodies when overwhelm comes in and tries to take us out. When we choose to take things one step at a time, then love is leading the way. Love it.
It is the tension that builds in our bodies from all our ‘to do’ lists that contributes to the
disharmony within our bodies which then leads to illness and disease.
I love what you share here Ingrid it absolutely warmed my heart as your blog so beautifully reminded us all it is never about perfection, but taking our time, with true care, love, commitment and consistency.
What a beautiful story. When we take our head out of the way and stay completely present and focused anything can be done. Before you know it you are able to turn back and be inspired by even yourself. That is true beauty.
Ingrid I am smiling. So simple and yet so true and when faced with overwhelm then it is really the only antidote.
Yes, because I too have hid under covers, gone into distractions, and tried to let it “sort itself out” – hah thank you for exposing the ridiculousness in this, and for us to take a moment and then work through it.
Ingrid I love this blog! Yes, whenever a task seems daunting just bringing that commitment and consistency to the task can move mountains. Thank you for this lovely and inspiring reminder.
Ingrid I love this blog, and it couldn’t have come at a better time – having just gone found myself pretty overwhelmed with a huge workload. Yes I found myself at the fridge looking for relief more than a few times, also tried a few tv shows or sleeping in – surprise surprise none of these “go tos” lessened the overwhelm – in fact they only cemented me further in it. What was truly supportive was reconnecting and making time for myself – a half hour walk or swim each day, gentle breath meditation morning and night, taking the time to cook a nutritious meal, connecting with friends and family rather than trying to soldier on alone – simple but life-changing.
Yes Hannah, I am learning how wonderful it is to reach out and connect with people rather than soldier on alone.
Beautifully shared Hannah and a very healthy approach to dealing with overwhelm.
Thank you Ingrid for your sharing. I agree that one step at a time is the way to go. I love your beautiful words “With commitment and consistency and with one loving step at a time we can move mountains”. This is really inspiring and I thank you Ingrid.
“With commitment and consistency, and with one loving step at a time, we can move mountains”. I love this Ingrid and when one is 71 years old this is great to read, as this has become my motto with most things I tackle these day. Yes I can move mountains,
at my place and my time, with conscious presence, easily and effortlessly.
” … and hope whatever we believe we can’t deal with will just go away.” At work, rather than hoping it will go away, I tend to go into ‘endurance’ mode and just keep on keeping on, but with a lack of enjoyment which then means I look for something sweet to eat to bring sweetness into my day. Since about August this year the amount of work has seemed to increase and been non-stop, so a feeling of overwhelm has been with me about 80% of the time. I keep hoping it will ‘get better’ but now after reading this great blog, will instead put your tip into practice – “stopping, re-connecting to ourselves and asking what is one simple thing I can do right now…” – and make some ‘stop’ moments throughout the day. Thank you for the lovely sharing.
Gorgeous story, thank you for sharing it Ingrid. So poignant it is for me right now too, in fact this story of your wood pile will stay with me for sometime, as did your picture on the fridge, to remind me when I find myself in an ‘it’s all hopeless’ moment, that much in fact CAN be moved when I choose not to give up, but to instead continue to make little moves toward the pile in front of me. And most importantly to sit back every once in a while to check out just how much has already been moved.
Thank you Ingrid, gorgeous blog. At work, I sometimes have to lists to simplify the do lists that are the to manage the other to do lists, and when I was younger I used to get overwhelmed by so much to do. One truth (amongst the endless many) that I have always connected with in Serge Benhayon’s teachings is the simplicity of staying not just present with what you are doing, but very conscious of the quality that you are present in. When I approach work with stillness and presence I not only get more done (surprisingly so), I also do not tend to get overwhelmed as much. Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity. That is the key to a profound life.
So true Adam, when we a caught in trying to multi task to get the ‘maximum’ amount achieved, it usually back fires and the majority of the time it does not work. The simplicity of connecting to the body and giving focus to the task at hand really does support you to have more space and in that space usually I get more done.
There is much to appreciate about this blog – firstly the simplicity in which we can choose to live our lives and a whole new experience of time and space – letting go of time and bringing absolute awareness and presence to each moment which unfolded the beautiful healing ‘Space’ needed. That list if approached in the same manner as the woodpile would soon evolve into a soothing balm in which others would be bathed in the loving imprint of completion. Thank you for sharing Ingrid.
I really love this the simplicity of actually only doing one thing at a time with quality, does move mountains in its own time
This is a great reminder for those of us that want things to get done all at once… thanks Ingrid
I love the simplicity of how much can be achieved when we take just one step at a time. When we realise the enormity of what we have allowed to build up, rather than go into overwhelm at what lies ahead, we can focus on clearing just one area of our lives at a time. For me, developing self appreciation begins with catching myself every time I make a judgemental statement about myself. It’s very simple, I just stop mid sentence as soon as I clock it until eventually it won’t be expressed at all.
Beautiful to read Ingrid how with your absolute dedication for honouring your body you got such a profound learning. With commitment and consistency we return to love and love comes to us to support us all the way.
So true Annelies, we take one step towards love and it is there in abundance. Ingrid’s gradual awareness of the simplest actions, like moving one piece of wood at a time, opened up so much more and her health benefited too!
In the past I’ve felt an urgency to get things done so that I can get to relax or do the things I would prefer to be doing and other times the procrastination because of the overwhelm won out. Similarly to you Ingrid (also inspired by Serge Benhayon) I’ve learned to move my “wood piles” one at a time and it surprises me too how easily and simply things get done when I choose not to go into overdrive.
What you say deborahmkay, reveals the stop/start, “must have a rest after getting the work done” that creates the mental attitude to our lives being overwhelm and rush. If we live like this in the home it is magnified in our outside activity, and so holidays become a necessity for most, with a feeling of working all year to have two weeks break and relaxation. Whereas if we keep the steady rhythm of the day, taking notice and responding to the moments of repose and then motion, without the attachment to getting everything done, then there is space for everything to happen, and everything is done in its own time. Then every day is a “Holy-Day”, and lived wholly.
Thank you Ingrid. What a life-transforming lesson you have learned in this one – “With commitment and consistency, and with one loving step at a time, we can move mountains”. Commitment and consistency are the foundational steps needed for any true change to occur.
Gorgeous Ingrid. ‘With commitment and consistency, and with one loving step at a time, we can move mountains’ – This is a fabulous motto; to ‘move mountains’ there is no need for struggle or pain, just dedication to living a loving way day in and day out. Instead of pushing yourself to try and move more logs than your body could take at once, you slowly and steadily moved the pile – still achieving a moved log pile, but this time not at the expense of your own body, which is awesome!
This is great Ingrid. I know I would have made this a project and tried to get it done quickly. I am learning to be more present and to do the amount that is enough rather than to rush to the finished outcome, exhausted. Enjoying each moment and using the exercise to strengthen your body is so lovely. As I read your blog I could feel the drive I have trying to push forward. It is so worth feeling this and becoming my own master again rather than bending to an old pattern.
This is so gorgeous Ingrid and I can feel your dedication to the loving care you took to honour what your body asked of you, very strongly throughout this blog. I have also seen the results of your honouring, commitment and consistency and the strength you have returned to. You listened to your body, and quietly stepped with presence and not only did you accumulate an amazing wood pile, the further benefit was the magnificent fires you were able to have using those blocks of wood. Building fire one step at a time. Awesome.
Lets focus on the piece I can carry right now while carry also the knowing and honoring that this piece is a part of a mountain…
Gosh, thank you for that Ingrid! How easy is it to go into overwhelm if I feel what could and should be done. And then I do either nothing and hide, or try to do everything in an energy of pushing – which hurts. Just now I can do what is needed to be done right now – this I can handle in connection with my body and with my full awareness. How lovely is that! “With commitment and consistency, and with one loving step at a time, we can move mountains”
This made me realise how I often create a drama out of overwhelm and use it as an excuse for not committing or not completing a task, when in fact with a gentle, loving approach, it can easily be done over a period of time. There’s something that traps me in the seeming lack of space/time. “One Step At a Time – Anything Else is Just Too Tricky!” – I love it.
They always say that women are great at multi tasking and that we can do more than one thing at the time. This is not true though as, like you share, we can only take one step at the time and do one thing at the time. If we do more, there is no presence, no commitment and we have left our body.
This is fabulous Ingrid. ““With commitment and consistency, and with one loving step at a time, we can move mountains” – and in my case, a wood pile!” I have a garage that needs sorting – so now intend to deal with one box at a time, rather than get overwhelmed by the huge task at hand.
Thank you Ingrid. The simplicity of your blog is wonderful and you have shown here the joy of honouring your body by staying present with yourself rather than being outcome driven. In the end the job was completed yet done so in a way that absolutely supported you. Gorgeous!
Yes Jane, if we’re outcome driven (and this is what society tends to place emphasis on) it’s an exhausting exercise which we’ll inevitably bash ourselves with along the way. Am I good enough? Did i get there on time? Etc etc. If the focus is to be with ourselves in all that we do, what i’ve found is that i’ll still do what needs to be done, and my body will instruct me to the next move, the the next thing to focus on because my body is infinitely wise and practical. It seeks harmony. Unlike my mind, which loves complication and problems…
Yes, sometimes we want to get things done all at once and when we do we don’t get to really enjoy it because we are too exhausted or driven.
I think my to do list stays at a permanent three pages! I used to worry about it, get overwhelmed about it, and do each and everything you listed to make me feel better about it (the food, the TV etc). These days I’m much more fluid with it… I let the stress stay on the page (which is why I set up the list in the first place). I can feel which task is the right one… maybe a simple one to help me get started, or a focus on a particular area. And what has been a revelation to me recently is there is a pulse to it… times when its about reducing the list, but other very creative times when it is all about creating it, adding to it and enjoying playing with a new project.
Great point simonwilliams8, its true there is a pulse to the ‘to do’, and when I allow myself to be in time with it I am in effect in the flow of it, and not feeling out of step.
Thank you, Ingrid, this blog has inspired me to start those tasks that I look at and think ‘where do I begin?’ and then put it off rather than taking my body and making a start! At some point the task will complete, and I can learn along the way 🙂
Great practical and loving message Ingrid-“With commitment and consistency, and with one loving step at a time, we can move mountains”. Very appropriate as I tend to want to do too much all in one go which then leaves me feeling exhausted, by following my mind and not honouring my body.
I agree lorettarap — when I start to feel that drain and exhaustion come into my body that’s a cue to stop how i’m doing what I’m doing. It’s a cue I’ve actually left my body, focussing doggedly on something i want to do, achieve etc and that’s become so so important that I’ve forgotten about me!
One step at a time, this is fantastic Ingrid, whenever life feels to much it can always be brought back to that. If I am ever living in stress about what I have to do then I know that just focusing on one task can be the start of a very efficient period of work. I have found that I could spend more time worrying and being in a state of anxiousness about seemingly insurmountable tasks than it actually takes the time to do them. Great to read of your experiences.
I loved this blog Ingrid! “With commitment and consistency, and with one loving step at a time, we can move mountains” – and in my case, a wood pile!” what an inspiration.
This is amazing Ingrid and such a joy to read. This highlights how overwhelm is definitely a choice and an emotion we choose because even if the situation before us is rather huge, as you present so well, if we take it step by step it does not need to be a big deal at all. It feels so gorgeous to honour the body in this way!
So true Joshua, we choose to go into overwhelm because we make the collective tasks bigger than we are, and also what they are and into a mountain, whereas one little rock (or log) at a time is much easier to manage and we feel we are much bigger than it. I also love the way, Ingrid, that you built up a daily rhythm that you built into your life and committed to; this stops the rush to get it all done at once. I love this blog, it is so natural and simple and wise.
Its true joanchristinecalder, Ingrid’s blog does offer a lot for us all to consider through being able to see the true power of commitment even in its smallest possible application.
It is such a different relationship with any task. I have found that I automatically go into a push, believing that is the only way I will get anything done.
Step-by-loving step? i have not to date explored that.
I am learning that push to get something done is actually what makes time and space contract in a way and suddenly the feeling of having to get it done feels more of a pressure and a chore.
That is such a great sharing Ingrid and I could feel how much support it was to do everything one step at a time, just paying attention the the log you were carrying and ensuring it was not too heavy, that how you were carrying it was OK in your body. I always feel that appreciation comes when we look back and see the fruits of the dedication to taking one step at a time. I also appreciate feeling the amazing inspiration of Serge Benhayon and the other students who equally inspire “to take more care of my body and to love me like never before” We inspire each other Ingrid – that we do.
‘One log at a time” will now be my new motto Ingrid, especially as my husband and I enter into ‘moving house’ mode. I too appreciate the wise teachings of Serge Benhayon for restoring to me a true relationship with my body and myself. In the past it would have been too easy to go into overdrive and overwhelm, but these days staying with my body and taking life one day at a time, one step, one ‘log’ at a time enables me to achieve so much more and with a truly gentle quality that makes life so joyful again.
Oh moving house mode, I attempted to do this in parts when I was moving house. When I took the time to just focus on one area in one room and pack it up, when I opened these boxes it was easy to unpack. Towards the end of packing I was in a bit of a rush so just kind of put stuff in boxes, these boxes are much harder to unpack. I still haven’t touched some of them. I love when things have an order to them.
It’s easy to enter into the ‘Get this done as fast as possible mode’ isn’t it? This mode I find removes the simple joy of completing a task and puts a huge strain on our bodies. Definitely great to remember when undertaking something huge, like moving house.
Very beautiful, absolutely we can ‘move mountains’. I can personally feel the benefits actualised in how I live and feel through the one step approach, live it, learn it through your body, appreciate it, live and and learn again. Through this I have expanded my appreciation of life, others and myself and I can feel the difference, wonderful.
I can relate to this blog as I’m sure most of us can. I also find that when I feel overwhelmed the best thing I can do is just focus on the present moment and go ‘one step at a time’.
“One step at a time” has always been a saying that has enormously frustrated me, why can we not fly straight away? But recently I can feel the utmost importance of not skipping any steps and making sure each step is there before I move onto the next. Like you have beautifully explained, it is a matter of commitment.
Definitely, Meg. Often I can get caught up in the image of an outcome too. Better to look at the step ahead rather than the end of the road.
Totally, it’s the most amazing feeling ever when you begin something and you don’t know what the outcome will be, but you know it’s guaranteed by your commitment to the quality of next choice. It feels like literally anything is possible.
I can so easily relate to what you share Ingrid – the list of endless chores etc that sit there growing ever bigger as I become more and more overwhelmed, feeling inadequate that I’m unable to cope with life! I’ve realised lately that this scenario just keeps me in the same old repetitive cycle of overwhelm so that I’m unable to feel the simplicity of life and the natural flow that can be tapped into when we commit to being present. I can see now that it’s just another tactic that I’ve used to distract myself from whats really going keeping me locked in my familiar patterns of comfort.
This is beautiful Ingrid, “With commitment and consistency, and with one loving step at a time, we can move mountains”. I love this. I can feel how I used to try and rush and get things done and so would strain my body with carrying and lifting, I do not do that now. With shopping I lift one or two light bags at a time, I don’t rush myself because I know that looking after my body is super important and so I enjoy the steadiness of gently moving the light shopping bags from the car into the house and again gently packing them away.
Going into overwhelm with the fact that the job list just keeps growing shows so clearly how I let myself get carried away into old patterns of behaviour, doing and trying gives the game away clearly here. The very opposite can be said when gently focusing on one job at a time there seems to be ample time/space to do the said jobs and many more besides. When choosing to focus on one activity at a time, a clear paths opens up with no extra added pressure on the body. So enjoyed reading your sharing Ingrid – thank you.
There is so much more opportunity to really feel and respond to what is needed in any moment when we are not overwhelmed by what we think needs to happen in the future. There is also the space to attend to the quality that we bring to each moment when you only attend to what is needed.
Life has a beautiful simplicity if we flow with it and things do get done in very lovely ways as you have expressed here Ingrid. I feel that we are innately designed to move one step at a time and to attempt anything other is to deny this design – until eventually life makes us stop and presents us with the opportunity to reflect – and choose again.
I love it Ingrid, the ability to allow and complete what is needed and feels to be done rather than trying to get everything done at once. It shows that anything is possible and the fact that when we take away our investment in time and when things will be done, the quality is there. The simple fact is we can’t do more than one thing at once so the more we try the more we will cause even deeper tension in our bodies. I also loved how everything and anything is possible when we allow.
This is a great lesson for us all Ingrid. Sometimes we forget the enormity of what we are capable of when unable to see through the obstacle filled path to get there, but in fact it is always easy – just be with ourselves and the way will unfold before us.
That is great Ingrid, it makes such a difference when we honour our bodies and do not push them or compromise them simply to get something done. Honouring where we are at and what we can physically do is very important and a great lesson to learn.
Ingrid, that’s a beautiful sharing. How often do we try and do everything in one go and then get burnt out? I know how it feels. With what you shared – one step at a time, with commitment, consistency and conscious presence – is something I have been working on too, and it is very supportive to the body. I no longer get my self caught in the ‘having to complete’ or get exhausted the way I used to.
I liked the story Ingrid and the example of the wood can be applied to all tasks that we do
A beautiful observation Ingrid. So often we put off a task because it just feels too big and overwhelming. By letting go of looking ahead to ‘getting it all done’ and just taking one step at a time I am often surprised that the task was much simpler than expected.
This is so true Ingrid. I have many things that I would love to do or where I would love to be at, yet I have found the only way to get there is moment by moment – like you say one step at the time. It is key as well to not rush through these moments but live them in full with joy and presence. It then guarantees the future to be in this loving quality too. This is a lovely learning process for me.
Multi-tasking to shorten my To-Do list is the easiest way I have found to stay in motion and get nothing done.
Ingrid – what I am coming to appreciate is the beauty in not planning an outcome to what we do – but rather to let things come together one piece at a time. As you discovered with your wood pile, it is the consistency that makes a difference – not the anxiousness of needing to get to an end result.
I was deeply inspired by your blog and your understanding of how step by step anything is possible. There is huge potential in our movements, and if each movement is honoured, anything is possible.
Thank you Ingrid for this inspiring blog, as I often find myself with too much ironing and cleaning but not enough time to do it all in. My usual way of dealing with this is to have an ironing marathon or a weekend clean, which starts out being gentle and loving, and then turns into I must finish at all costs, and the enjoyment of ironing and cleaning goes and I start to push my body to get it finished. In the past I tried a little experiment with myself where I did a little every day and that worked very well, so thank you for the reminder.
This is very good. It is very inspirational to read and feel that it is just about a consistent commitment to doing what is needed, and just one step is all we need to stay connected with ourself. The next one will come later.
What I get from your blog Ingrid, is its all about the body, the body, the body and when we truly listen to it as you did, and commit to that and caring for it consistently, magic happens and much is revealed.
Wonderful sharing Ingrid, with supportive ‘pictures’ which we can remember when we are standing in front of the next pile (of whatever is there to get moved). You are so right, the strength we can get in contact with, through being consistent and committed, is profound and often surprising. I can relate so very much to the overwhelming part and realize much more lately that I often have let myself down in the face of any pile that seems to be too big to move. So there has been no one left who could move anything – and this was the reason for the overwhelm. Just at the moment, with a laugh, I feel that it is like I am sitting in front of a plate of nurturing food, being resigned to thinking my mouth is too small to get it all eaten, forgetting completely how tasty and nurturing it is, or even, if I share the meal, what a beautiful celebration eating together can be. So every pile, moved in companionship with myself, is a tasty and nurturing action.
So wonderful that you had that picture on you fridge for many years and that eventually you have discovered the true message it was bringing to you Ingrid. We are all surrounded by messages to support us in our evolution back to our soul, and to be able to read these messages we have to stop and consciously feel what they are telling us. Living in this connection with the love that is all around us, we will be amazed as to what we can achieve in that beingness, and maybe one day we will be able to build the pyramids once again. And with that I do not mean that we need to build some pyramids again, but that we have restored the state of being that makes it possible to build structures like the pyramids with the purpose and precision that is incorporated in them.
Your blog Ingrid is an awesome reminder to take things and life one step at a time. So often we push through, cramming as much as we can into a day and never considering the vehicle we are using to make it all happen. As I sit now with a sore foot up on a pillow, I too am being reminded to appreciate the body and its amazing service to my soul.
I agree harryjwhite, this is a brilliant blog. It is so easy to get lost and overwhelmed by the enormity of our of things to do and end up going around in circles and getting nowhere. I love how Ingrid says that “With commitment and consistency, and with one loving step at a time, we can move mountains” – pure truth. And so now I am off to do one of the things I haven’t got around to for weeks and start the ball rolling.
A beautiful sharing, and bringing true understanding and lived experience to the saying one step at a time for anything else is too tricky. This applies to everything in life and something we all need a constant reminder of, thank you.I loved the commitment and consistency to everything we do in loving presence and gentleness, and the more I find I do this the greater the joy and appreciation I feel.
A great way to ‘head for the fridge’ Ingrid, in a way that truly supports! Rather than attempting to dampen any anxiousness or overwhelm we may feel in relation to seemingly ‘mountainous’ tasks ahead of us, you took a moment to truly stop – than you could connect with yourself and a course of action that honoured you and did not wear you out. Love it, and the joyful way you went about moving all of that wood!
How many of us would ‘push through’ and pay for it later? Is it really worth doing that, or are WE worth far, far more – the way we care for ourselves and our bodies key? Clearly we are worth it, and your Joy in exploring this is proof in the pudding. Thanks for an awesome blog.
What a very inspiring and lovely blog to read. I got goose-bumps at the end of reading it. I totally get what you mean about having many things to attend to and then bringing it back to the body, honouring it, one step at a time, as a way of getting through the ‘pile of wood’.
I love the picture of the little girl on the beach with just a hat on, with a seemingly insurmountable obstacle in front of her -can relate to that one! I often keep going with a task when I feel tired or when I have lost my joy in the task -because I want to finish it! This drive to finish something, when it does not feel right to do so, is quite embedded -time to put my hat on and let that one go…
Thank you Ingrid, yes life is that simple it is just one step at a time – actually when we walk to do anything that is all we can do!
Fantastic! Glorious! I loved reading this blog- the commitment in your writing & expression is so strong & yet the message so simple- one step at a time…& yes you can move mountains. How awesome it feels to be in your power! Thank you Ingrid.
Gorgeous Ingrid, I love the ease and wash of simplicity that is felt when you describe what making one step at a time your commitment actually feels like. It’s so true that we live with overwhelm and to-do lists that continue to have us living ahead of ourselves and therefore feeling like we are already behind, how exhausting! We try to catch our tails and it isn’t possible and yet when we are with and in the moment literally, we have no time to catch up with and all the space to complete what is at hand.
Cherise I love how you said that, when we are in overwhelm from the seemingly never ending to-do-lists that we are: ” feeling like we are already behind” – and that’s before we even start to address the list. It’s a continual game of catch up which is so very exhausting.
Beautifully said Cherise, ‘living ahead of ourselves and therefore feeling like we are already behind’ feels like splitting ourselves down the middle and in doing so not being anywhere near where is needed, absolutely crazy – and how often are we living this way! In sublime contrast the space available to us in the present allows all the room to get done what needs to be done.
Brilliant. I feel inspired by your commitment, and acceptance that you couldn’t move the whole pile in one go. I would often want to do things, all in one go and not feel the commitment over a period of time, but compromising on the quality that I actually do something in. Working with our bodies in the way that is natural for them makes sense and if we honoured our bodies a lot more there would be so much less illness and disease.
It’s super important what you have shared here harryjwhite, that honouring our bodies makes for so much less illness and disease. Perhaps this shows us that living in disharmony and in a rhythm that is not our own, cannot sustain itself as an energy in our bodies and therefore accumulates until ill signs and symptoms become apparent.
Hi Cherise and harryjwhite – the message that shines brightly for me is how much our body loves us. If we are choosing to live in a way that is not honouring of who we are then illness and disease communicates this to us, if we are listening to our bodies and checking in first by taking on what fits with where the body is at, then anything is possible. The ‘Gift’ of being exposed is true healing, not being controlled by ‘Time’ and more ‘Space’ for loving self and others. Thanks for this simple yet profound blog Ingrid.
That push to get it done all in one go only hurts us. What I am finding and growing in appreciation of, is that commitment over time and, as you write Harry, working with the body in a way that doesn’t strain it. It’s like accepting the body as it currently is and allowing it, without expectation of more, to carry out what it can do at any given moment. If this builds the acceptance without the push to constantly be more, what else can the body do without that extra pressure?
I agree Harry, it does show great commitment and proves that when we keep focussed with what needs to be done anything is possible irrespective of how long it may take. And when we do this together as a group we can even move and build pyramids!
Awesome James “And when we do this together as a group we can even move and build pyramids!” – extra-ordinary!
Super-ordinary yet out of the common ordinary so many of us live with together. There is magic all around us, all we need to do is open our eyes and be open to it as opposed to being caught up in our own little self centred world.
It is a beautiful, simple and very poignant example of how people do incredible things (like move mountains!).
Indeed it is. And this one showing us how we can do it with being with our bodies and taking great care of ourselves in the meantime.
I too felt an appreciation for the simplicity expressed here…there feels like a distinct anxiousness and tension during the first part of the blog where you recount the trauma you were inflicting on your body…and I too know that running to bed or consuming Netflix marathons to numb out the busy-ness. Then through your appreciation and stop moment the second half of the blog feels so light and fresh and I can literally taste the sweet paddock smell as you describe it…gorgeous. This simplicity and this honouring is so critical to letting go of the anxiousness around doing…I appreciate you bringing another awesome illustration of the adjustment supported by Universal Medicine and the power of connecting to how you truly feel.
“With commitment and consistency, and with one loving step at a time, we can move mountains” – and in my case, a wood pile!” I could feel the power of what you share here with us Ingrid. With consistency finding our own rhythm and timing we can support ourselves whereas just getting stressed out, doing it all at once, we sabotage ourselves and make it about getting it done and finished but not about the quality.
I had always been a little the same Harry maybe more like lets get it over and down with as if everything was such a burden and I wanted me time.
“One step at a time”, thank you Ingrid for this inspiration – as it takes the pressure off life…and through being super present and honouring of yourself, you were able to enjoy the process instead of resenting it.
I agree there is a huge pressure in life to go straight to the finished completed article, without taking the time for the necessary steps in-between. Taking life one step at a time definitely takes the pressure off and allows for things to naturally evolve.
Yes Meg, we can look at the finish line and think we need to be there; completely dismissing the beauty of the path there. Why does the end product need to be the ‘goal’? When every moment in between could be just as beautiful.
Absolutely – when we focus on the finish line, it kind of renders every moment between now and then obsolete and not of equal importance. What’s the point in living that way, when, with a little dedication, every moment can be special.
Meg from my experience of my first year of University: Even if you think the end point is ‘it’, that ‘finally you will be free’, ‘finally I will be happy’ etc. etc. If you have not lived presently and lovingly in the moments in-between leading up to this point, you are left empty at that ‘success’, and realise it was a waste of energy and space in all that you have done up until that point. If we do not build the foundations as we go, there will be nothing to fall back on, for the next moment and nor if we have a moment of rest, when all we have been doing is ‘doing’. I have had to work through feelings of aloneness, emptiness, sadness and unsuredness in the beginning of my holidays…it was unpleasant indeed, i am still working on this and will bring it into my next year of University. Success without Love is truly no success at all, for yourself or anyone else. And yep – that is a blog.
I had a very similar experience at university – I really didn’t enjoy it and just was waiting for the end, and then when the end came I didn’t know what to do with myself. If I was to do university again I would do it very differently, for one I would have a purpose for it, and secondly I would make an active commitment to make every moment loving and every moment count, and absolutely know I make a difference.
So agree Harryjwhite it is the quality we bring to all that we are and do that has a lasting impact. Ingrid’s blog reveals that making that commitment to ourselves is so important and from there we build the consistency of who we are in all that we do. Just beautiful.
A true inspiration. I agree.
Looking back to that time harryjwhite, the beautiful thing was that I wasn’t even thinking about moving the whole pile, I was just there in the moment choosing to focus on one piece of wood and then moving me in a way that honoured my body that was in the process of healing. Each movement was totally in that moment, there was no plan; just to feel and be with me 100%.
That’s purpose Ingrid! It would change the world if we all had purpose.
It’s a trick to get things completed and crossed off the list, only for the purpose of having it done rather than how we complete what we are doing. Yes we compromise our body, so that we meet an expectation, rather than tuning in with our body. Ingrid blog is great for this showing how we can do what is needed paying absolute respect for our bodies at the same time.
Yes Jen I agree totally. Most people I know think this way, and move their body this way when they work, but to me it feels totally exhausting. Much like Ingrid has shared, when I move my body in a rhythm that is natural for it, and don’t have any expectations of a timing or how something should look as an end product then I find I can work far easier and I even enjoy the simplicity of it all!
Yeah great point Katie. So often we can go through the day totally unaware of our bodies and the messages it is sending us. The other day I was watching a two year old play and she suddenly stopped and pulled off her shoes and socks saying ouch as her sock had twisted and she didn’t like it. I love how little kids are very in-tune with their bodies. I would often push through something like this and not take a moment to fix it in the way that felt more comfortable.
This is huge. Sometimes I feel that my commitment is like a struck match – a huge explosion of enthusiasm and I am left burntout on the other side. All I want is to get whatever it is done, but at a rather high price.
But what if…what if I actually made my commitment about myself as much as the task at hand?
That is a revelatory moment.
So true Rachel I can get so lost in achieving the target I have set myself at great cost to my body – having an equal commitment to myself feels so much more self loving and as others have commented is also a much more responsible way to live.
Absolutely revelatory I agree Rachel! The pyramids were not built in a day!
I agree that is real commitment and consistency to staying with your body, moving as one. I probably would have wanted to move the whole pile in one go but this creates anxiety.
Harry what you mention about doing things all in one go is really interesting. I often look at the work I need to do, jump to overwhelm and distrust of being able to complete it within time frame, so try to get it all done in one go. I could describe it as ‘binge working’ – I know it has the same effects as any kind of binge which results in not honouring my body, exhaustion and needing recovery time. So much healthier to commit to consistency which results in a far healthier body and body of work.
I fully agree Harry, putting in a huge effort to get something done, while feeling overwhelmed at the same time means the quality we bring is totally compromised, and not true, and thus the whole project will be affected by that quality. I am learning to change the paradigm and start first from the quality and presence that I bring to the work which then follows that the work will also have this quality in it. And that quality comes from how I live and treat this body. If I stay up late, get wired and eat poorly, then the body suffers and so does the work I can do… obviously this is not rocket science… but what I had not appreciated before is the stupendous quality we can actually bring if we gave our bodies a chance to be all they can be.
Ah yes, we make mountains out of molehills to afford us an excuse to not move what blocks our path.
True harryjwhite I can relate trying to get a large task or lots of task complete. The strain and the energy drain just continually thinking about it takes me away from actually getting the job done, or ends up taking longer or worse still does not get done at all.
Brilliant Kristy! I totally relate how super-admiring and inspiring kids are. I also see often how kids lose this innocence when growing up. Why do we pollute this natural way and force how ‘we think’ they need to grow up? I hear so many new parents melt back into the memories of what love is however, as the kids grow, the inconsistency and lack of commitment of the parents cause the young to follow the same behaviors as the parents. We all need a simple lesson in what it means to commit and be consistent. It has sure provided me a way back to living my truth and keeping it this way.