We have a children's book called Little One Step. It's about a baby duckling who goes exploring with his brothers and finds himself far from home as dark approaches. He is scared and doesn't want to walk in the dark, but his brothers tell him to keep taking "just one step" and soon he will be home. They tell him not to look ahead at the dark night but to focus on the "one step" in front of him. The little duckling marches all the way home just by continuing to take "one step." I think this is a great book and I could draw a lot of parallels to daily life . . . but I'll just write about what I consider the most useful application of the "one step" method.
Situations often arise in which I am completely overwhelmed. Timber is crying to be fed, Scout is taking his poopy diaper off, and Flora is using a chair to get a box of cereal off the counter . . . . or maybe Scout needs to be disciplined for hitting Flora on the head, Flora needs to be comforted after being hit on the head, and Timber is crying to be fed . . . . or maybe Scout has locked himself in Flora's room, Timber is crying to be fed, and Flora is on the potty yelling for me to come wipe her . . . . or sometimes it's just as simple as all three of them crying to be fed. In any case, I've found that the best thing to do in these situations is to take a deep breath and start "one stepping." Before I know it, I've "one stepped" my way to meeting everyone's needs and enjoying a peaceful house again.
The "one step" method also works great for cleaning. Yes, the thought of cleaning the whole house is daunting, but if I only ask "one step" of myself then usually the one step turns into a mile or two.
I assume the "one step" method works for exercising too, but I haven't tried it yet. I have a hunch that it's going to take more than one step to lose all this baby weight though.....
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