Is it the first step?
Is it the last step?
Is it the next step?
It is always, and only, this step.
While the final 1% completes the circle, it does not exist without the single step. The single step of moving the idea from in your mind to out in the world.
The single step of moving from sitting on the couch to putting on your walking shoes.
The single step of sitting down and drawing that first sketch.
The single step of raising your hand and saying, “I’ll do it.”
The single step that follows the first step, when nothing shows that the step before had any impact. The single step that follows the next, when everyone else says the next one is impossible.
The single step taken in that moment of doubt – “Is any of this worth it?”
The single step taken when the loudest feeling is, “This is too hard!”
In a moment of thinking, “What’s the point? No one sees me, no one knows me. I’ve taken the step that was needed, yet nothing happened…” – I took the next step, in the early hours of the morning, when the easiest thing to do would have been to look back and say, “There’s no point.”
The single step when the only gap between here and there is that one step taken now.
The single step taken now.
You can’t take the one before, it’s gone.
You can’t take the next one, you’re here.
The only step that can be taken is the one here.
The next step never comes.
When the next step arrives, it is the single step now.