The First Steps

Where did the phrase first step is the hardest originate? I feel like it had to of been someone who was familiar with hard times and struggles yet hadn't really seen much of the world. I say this because it seems to me that someone who has traveled and experienced things away from their normal comfort areas would have a little different view of what a first step really is. As spring rolls into the mountains here in Wyoming I get the bug that so many outdoor enthusiasts can relate with! Where the sun finally remembers that its suppose to warm you, the breeze no longer bites, you smell rain and it seems like the color green is speaking a secret language only you and it understand and its telling you to not spend another minute inside a building! So as i deal with all these very difficult problems and search for that dream job that allows me to be outside for the rest of my life and never have to enter a building again except by choice i've been thinking also about all the first steps i've taken around this time of year over the past years. 6 years ago around this time i chose to pick up and spend a summer as a backpacking guide and take those first steps down a path that would bring me to where i'm at today. A 26 year old without a bachelors degree, having worked 16 different jobs in 6 years, lived in 5 different states, traveling around 8-9 thousand miles a year across the country, hiking anywhere from 500-1000 miles a year and meeting hundreds of new people on a yearly basis! These are my resume, my qualifications to speak on first steps. See i've had more first steps in my 26 years than a majority of people will have in their lifetime. Its not a brag, cause the Lord knows i did not choose the easy path and have had my fair share of second guessing but it has also taught me many life lessons that might have gone unlearned if i hadn't of picked this path and one of those is that the first step is not the hardest. Now a first step might be the scariest thing you ever do in your life but first steps whether on a trail or the path of life are usually in pursuit of a dream. Your desire and passion for that dream or goal is enough to overcome that initial fear of the first step. Knowing that at the end of this trail head is a peak with a view that will take your breathe away or knowing that this life path will lead me to a point of happiness and peace that i can only dream about right now can be a very powerful motivator. And that leads to the next lesson ive learned about first steps. You truly have no idea whats at the end or what you'll go through on the way to get there! From surprise snowstorms in the middle of the backcountry to unforeseen career directions i can at least attest to the fact that never once have i taken a first step knowing what i would run into along the chosen path. As i now am seeking that career choice i mentioned earlier i find myself nervous to even take my own advice. Its easy to forget where all my first steps have led and the lessons i never would have learned if they had not been taken. The mindset ive tried to adopt is that we all have to move forward in this life. Some will crawl, some will be carried but the lucky ones will stand and learn to take the first step on their own. I will always submit that the best way to get anywhere is by walking, so as you look at life and what its placing before you choose to take the first step. Whether its on a trail or down a life path that you've been nervous to embark upon just do what i've told hundreds of folks that ive led into the wild "lets just take it one step at a time and see where the trail will take us."